


Gamer Girl

by LynneDragn



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/M, Family, Fanfiction, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23550004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynneDragn/pseuds/LynneDragn
Summary: Lucy has been obsessed with gaming her entire life but never goes on voice call with those she games with as they always change the moment they hear she's a girl. Lucy grows close to ThatMetalMan, IceBreaker and her favourite and funniest friend online, FireSpittingDragon. How is she going to tell them that she's actually a girl and likes one of them? I DON'T OWN FT. NaLu. (CONTINUED)
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 50
Kudos: 286





	1. It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

Lucy threw down her controller down for the umpteenth time, trying to ignore her friends when they laughed at her.

"That's the fourth time they've beaten you," Cana laughed, Levy chuckled along and nodded.

"Uh-huh. I thought you were good at this game."

Lucy scowled at them and turned to glare at the screen. She was good at this game. She was good at every first shooter game.

"I am," she insisted, ignoring their giggles. "It's just these guys obviously has some kind of cheat. That and I don't really like controllers."

"Why don't you go on your PC?"

"This game isn't out on PC yet," Lucy explained as she turned to meet their blank stares. She sighed. "We're going on PC later. I'll kick anyone's ass on that."

"Sure," Cana responded, her voice thick with sarcasm. "Why don't you put your headset on? You could verbally attack then."

"I can't," Lucy grumbled.

"What? Why?"

"Because they're guys?" Lucy said, as if that answered all questions. Cana frowned at her.

"Yeah, and?"

"They won't take me seriously," Lucy muttered in annoyance. "They always get weird when they hear that I'm a girl."

It went silent for a moment before the room exploded with laughter. Usually they tried to hide it but Levy and Cana didn't hide their laugher this time. They fell back into the couch, gasping for breath as they chortled at their friend. Lucy had to fight a smile.

"Wow, Wow," Levy wiped a tear from her eye. "Is that why your name is –"

"That – ThatChillGuy," Cana nearly screeched the name with her laughter. Heat rose to Lucy's cheeks and she turned away.

"It wasn't always that!" She hissed. "It used to be CelestialSoul but people just knew I was a girl! So – "

"So, you thought the next best thing was ThatChill…" Levy couldn't even get the words out. Lucy shot her a glare.

"Fine! What do you think it should be?"

"Anything else!" They said almost in sync. Lucy huffed again and grabbed her controller, selecting profile then settings and editing her name.

"Go on then," she snapped. "Since you have a better idea."

"What about CelestialWizard?" Levy suggested. Lucy scrunched up her nose up in distaste.

"I need to seem like a guy," she explained. Again. "I don't go on call but they all talk to me. When I have a name like that all they say is: "You not talking 'cause you a girl, right? C'mon, I can show you a good time–'"

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Cana groaned, leaning forwards and grabbing the controller from Lucy's hands. "How about… Oooo! The DrunkenGamer!"

Lucy just stared at her for a long moment before snatching her controller back.

"I'm gonna just leave it as it is," she muttered. "No one has given me any trouble since I changed it. Besides, everyone has lame names on this thing."

"I'll say," Levy agreed, leaning forwards to eye the names on the screen. "I mean, ThatMetalMan? IceBreaker? FireSpittingDragon? Really?"

"Hey! Leave them alone, they're my team."

"Your what?"

"My team!" Lucy whined. "I only met them a couple of days ago but we added each other and they're really good! And not to mention hilarious."

"They're funny?" Cana arched a brow. "How'd you know that?"

"They've been a team for a while, I think they were just waiting to find a fourth member to complete it." Lucy shrugged and twiddled a stand of hair around her finger. "They all go on call while we play and I join it and mute my mic."

"Seriously?" Levy looked taken aback. "And they don't mind you just listening to them?"

"Not really. It helps because in game they can tell me what to do or where to go and I can hear. The only downside is I can't tell them if they're in trouble or not."

"Huh," Cana jutted a lip out in consideration. "Maybe I should start gaming. Sound's like a good way to pick up guys."

"Trust me, the moment they hear a female voice they go nuts," Lucy shuddered. "I've spoken to some real creeps before I changed my name and stopped going on call."

"Are any of these guys creeps?"

"No, they have no idea I'm a girl," Lucy grinned happily. "Just how I like it. Now I can game in peace."

"Suit yourself." Levy shrugged. "Now, you and your team gonna beat these guys or not."

Lucy played for another hour before kicking Levy and Cana out of her dorm and back to their own joint room. Lucy hummed with relief that she didn't have a roommate. The only thing she used the money her parents left her on was her own single dorm room. The rest was put into her savings or donated to charity.

Lucy turned messaged the guys and said she'd be on game on the PC in an hour before turning off the console and making her way to her bathroom to have a bath. She loved having her friends over but it was a little exhausting since she wanted to just game. Levy and Cana don't play games at all, the only other one of her friends who liked games was Erza but she had graduated last year.

When Lucy had finished bathing and relaxing she made her way into her room to pull on some pyjamas. She didn't bother drying her hair fully, instead tying it into a tight bun on the top of her head before putting on a thick headband.

"Okay," Lucy muttered to herself as she made her way back to her PC. She had to save up her own hard earned money for this. She had left her headset on charge while Levy and Cana were here but now that they were gone she didn't see any harm in joining the call the guys were in.

She hopped online and joined the call, very quickly switching her mic onto mute when their voices flooded her ears.

"Hey, Ice bastard, you think you could cover me?" ThatMetalMan, or just Metal as they call him, snapped.

"Alright, Metal mouth, keep your panties on." IceBreaker yelled back, voice high with tension.

"GUYS!" FireSpittingDragon's voice almost made her jump out her seat. "Guys, guys, guys, guys – "

"NO!"

"Noooooo!"

Lucy immediately started chuckling. It was like listening to one of those funny gaming videos she always watched, but she got to listen to it all first hand. She pressed a hand over her mouth to smother her laughter before she remembered they couldn't hear her anyway.

"Fucking moron!"

"Me?!"

Lucy laughed again. ThatMetalMan certainly swore a lot, but somehow it made him funnier. His voice was deep and kinda intimidating, which only makes it that much more hysterical when he's on the edge of a break down when he's out of bullets and about to die in game.

"That wasn't my fault, you idiot!" IceBreaker, or Ice, snapped back. Hearing Ice shout was quite rare she had found in the past few days since he usually sounded very calm and collected. He was definitely the most sarcastic out of the three but when he lost a game he reacted as they all did. Badly.

"Can you guys maybe, I dunno, be less shit this time?"

Lucy grinned. She had no idea why, but Dragon was her favourite. At first she thought it was because he reminded her of a gamer she used to watch. But she came to realise that he wasn't like anyone she had ever listened to in her life. He was better.

And certainly the funnier.

"Didn't sound so cocky when you were crying for us," Metal grumbled. Lucy heard Ice scoff in the background.

"Yah, I nearly had to mute you it sounded that pathetic."

"Well, I'm sorry I had about ten guys on me and no ammo."

"You should be."

"Much better."

Dragon just groaned. Lucy laughed again.

"Oh, Chill is on."

"Is he?"

"Oi! Get in game!"

Lucy giggled again and sent a swift reply before booting up the game.

They played countless more games before they realised it was early hours of the morning and switched it off, but they hadn't ended the call yet.

"You guys tired?" Dragon asked.

"Nope." Metal responded promptly.

"Nah," Ice agreed. "My energy is too high from that last game. Nice one, Chill."

Lucy smiled and quickly sent a response.

Thanks. I'm not tired either.

"Hey, why don't you come on call man?" Dragon asked and the breath hitched in Lucy's throat. "Then we could all just talk."

"Yeah."

"I guess."

It's too late. My roommate is asleep and I don't want to wake her.

"Her?"

Oh – Him*. Sorry.

"That's fair," Ice allowed. Lucy released a sigh of relief.

"You shouldn't definitely come on call tomorrow, though." Dragon continued. Lucy had to fight a groan. "You're getting that new pirate game tomorrow too, right?"

Yeah.

"So are we," he continued, his voice cheery. "It's quite new so I'm sure it'll be laggy as fuck and have loads of bugs, but it'll be a laugh learning how to play it together."

"You mean like when Metal first got our usual game?" Ice added, his voice cracking with laughter.

"Oi, shut up!" Metal snapped, the sudden loudness making her jump. "I'd only ever done third person shooting. Leave me alone."

"Whatever man, it was pitiful," Ice laughed and Dragon joined in. Lucy did feel a slight weight in her chest when she thought about joining the chat. She was sure if she did they would all get on really well but they'd treat her like a freak or an object the moment they heard she was a girl. And now that she thought about it, after pretending to be a guy all this time it would probably just make her look like a freak if she suddenly told them she was a girl.

"Right, I'm more tired than I thought," Ice sighed eventually. Lucy muttered in agreement before she remembered they couldn't hear her.

"Yah, I'm out. Later!"

The app dinged and Metal abruptly left the chat.

"Charming," Ice muttered. "See you guys!"

The app dinged again, leaving only Dragon and Lucy in the chat.

"I guess I'll get off too, then," Dragon said before groaning. Lucy assumed he was stretching. "It'll be funny tomorrow, though. Definitely come on call though, it's way more fun."

Lucy sighed and shook her head to herself before typing a response.

We'll see. Night Dragon.

"Night Chill. Bye!"

The call ended and Lucy leant back into her seat with a groan. It's fine, she can surly avoid joining the chat for as long as they play together.

Right?

"So, let me see if I understand this correctly," Cana said after a long silence.

"Let's see if you do." Lucy agreed.

"You've been playing your weird shooting game with these three guys for three- "

"Four."

"Four months now?"

"Yes."

"And you finally feel like they won't be creepy or sexist if they knew you were a girl -"

"Uh-huh."

"But you can't tell them that you're a girl because you've been pretending to be a guy all this time and they'll think you're insane."

"That's right."

"Jeez, Lucy," Cana shook her head with a laugh and took a swig out of her water bottle. Lucy frowned. There was no way there was water in that. "You really out did yourself this time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you have a weird knack for getting yourself in weird situations."

"Oh, hah-hah," Lucy glared at her as she pushed the door to class open. Lucy and Cana shared nearly every lesson together but this was the only one they sat beside each other in.

"I still don't get why you didn't tell them in the first place." Cana mentioned as they slid into their seats at the front. "You liked them all from the start. You should have just went with your gut."

"I know, I know," Lucy sighed as she heard the classroom door open again. She looked up briefly and raised her brows.

"Hey," she nudged Cana. "New student."

"Oh!" Cana leant back in her seat, watching as the new guy made his way over to the teacher. "He's hot!"

"Right?"

"Okay class," the teacher nodded to the new guy before stepping forward to address his student. "This is Natsu Dragneel. I know we're in the middle of a semester but he's transferring here as of today."

Lucy and Cana hummed together in consideration as they watched the new guy – Natsu – make his way over to an empty seat.

"He really is cute," Lucy murmured to Cana. "I wonder what he's like."

Cana just shrugged and turned her gaze towards the teacher. Before Lucy could drag her gaze from the Natsu, his own eyes turned idly to meet hers.

Lucy's breath caught in her throat, but he didn't look mad. His eyes widened somewhat in surprise before he gave her a cheery, fanged grin.

Ignoring the jump in her stomach, Lucy politely smiled back, her face hot with embarrassment and turned her face away. Her smile remained on her face as she thought about how this semester might have just gotten a bit more interesting.


	2. Now, There's An Interesting Development

"DRAGON, WHAT THE FUCK – "

"I AM DOING MY BEST – "

"CHILL, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YO– NO!"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit – " Lucy barked at herself as she nearly tore the mouse from the desk in attempt to cover her friends. She grit her teeth in frustration as they could not hear her, it would just make everything so much easier. When the notice that her team had lost popped up on the screen, she sat back in her chair in a huff.

"God damn," Metal sighed, Lucy thought she could hear him run a hand over his face.

"Well, that was fucking dreadful." Ice tagged on.

"Ah, come on. We won like twenty rounds before that one. We're all just tired." Dragon reasoned, and Lucy turned to look at the clock, her eyes widening when she saw it was nearly four AM. She flew forward to type furiously.

Shit! I didn't realise the time, I have class tomorrow!

"Ooo, that's gotta hurt," Metal laughed. Ice and Dragon groaned.

"I have class too," Ice whined and Lucy heard Dragon heave a long sigh.

"Me too. I've barley been there a few weeks, so I can't be late."

Lucy's eyebrows shot up at the new information. She wished she was on call with them so she could ask more about his move but relaxed when Ice beat her to it.

"You moved, Fire Breath?"

"Yah, 'bout a month ago. My old man got a new job in Magnolia so…"

"Ugh, you live in the same city as me?" Metal complained. Ice made a noise of revulsion.

"Ew, me too. Wait, you both live here?"

Lucy stopped listening as she froze in her seat. All three of the guys she gamed with lived in the same city as her? How could that be possible?

"So, what school you guys in?"

Lucy shut her PC off without closing any of her games. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears at the sudden news but quickly calmed herself down. Okay -There is no need to panic. There are countless school and colleges in Magnolia. There was no way she shared hers with any of her gaming friends.

Lucy repeated that to herself, trying to ignore the gnawing voice in her head questioning why she didn't stay on call to hear them confirm that then.

It was physically painful to drag herself from her nice warm bed the next morning. Lucy shut off her alarm as it blared down her ear at seven AM and forced her legs to carry her to the shower. She turned the water to cold in attempt to wake herself up but even that proved futile. She exited the shower with her teeth chattering as she hurried into her room to pull her pyjamas on before picking out a set of clothes for the day.

Before getting dressed, she sat at her desk and turned her computer back on the double check her schedule that day. She frowned as it opened on the chat room with her friends before remembering she shut the whole thing off. Before closing the tab, her eyes zeroed in on the chat between the boys had after she had left.

IceBreaker: Chill? You there?

ThatMetalMan: My headset ran out.

FireSpittingDragon: We figured. We're going to bed anyway.

ThatMetalMan: Chill hasn't come back?

FireSpittingDragon: Nope. Wonder what got him.

IceBreaker: We can catch him tomorrow. I'm going to bed.

FireSpittingDragon: You better stay away from me at class, Ice Freak.

IceBreaker: Fuck you, Flame Brain. Like I wanna be near you.

FireSpittingDragon: Ice Princess.

IceBreaker: Fire Breath.

FireSpittingDragon: Ice block.

ThatMetalMan: And I'm out.

Lucy swallowed thickly and tilted her head to the side before standing. Okay. Okay, so Ice and Dragon go the same school. No big deal. They're probably miles away. Lucy took another deep breath before shaking her head and turning to get dressed.

When Lucy finally stumbled from her dorm she knew she looked exhausted. She fought the urge to rub her eyes as she adjusted her bag and made her way to class.

"Lucy! Hey, you – Oh, you don't look so hot."

Lucy narrowed her eyes nastily at Cana's comment as she and Levy made their way over the road to walk beside her.

"Let me guess," Levy quipped with a grin. "Late night with three men?"

Cana snorted and Lucy punched her friend in the arm.

"I was up till four AM just gaming," she groaned. Levy winced and Cana just laughed again.

"You seriously need a new hobby, this is bad for your health." Levy told her with a hint of concern. Lucy just shrugged and smiled lazily.

"It's fine. I just lost track of time. Won't happen again."

"Sure," Cana sneered but her face held humour. "Any gossip on the three mystery men? They still hassling you to go on mic?"

Lucy shook her head but stiffened a little at the mention of gossip.

"Not really, I think they gave up on that. But – "

"But what?"

"I do know that they're all living in Magnolia. And going to school somewhere in the city."

"What?!" They gasped in sync. Lucy cringed.

"And Ice and Dragon go to the same school or college."

"WHAT?!" They stopped dead and Lucy hung her head back before turning to face them.

"It doesn't mean they go to our college." Lucy reasoned. She was so tired it almost hurt to talk.

"But they might," Cana added, excitement plain in her voice. Lucy shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah. Maybe, but I don't know. Anyway, can we go? I need today to be over so I can sleep."

The girls spoke amongst themselves as Lucy walked silently beside them, not her usually chatty self.

"I need coffee," she groaned as they passed the café, offering no other explanation as she turned on her heels and made her way into the shop.

She looked over her shoulder to see Cana and Levy waiting outside. Levy was looking anxiously at her watch as Cana rolled her eyes. Lucy caught her eye and waved them off, trying to signify she'd catch up. Cana nodded and said a few words to Levy before they started walking again.

Lucy sighed for probably the umpteenth time and turned back to join the line, but instead fell into someone chest.

"Oh!"

Large hands reached up to steady her, grasping her upper arms in one quick and firm motion. Lucy took a step back and started to apologise profusely.

"Oh – Oh my God, I'm really sorry," she began as she began to step back and look up.

"No, no, it's fine! I shoulda watched where I was goin'," A gruff but amused voice told her. She opened her mouth but said nothing when she finally realised that it was Natsu, the new guy in her class, that she had bumped into.

"Ah, Natsu, right?" she asked slowly. The grin that spread across his face made her stomach clench.

"Yah – You know me?"

"We have homeroom together." She explained with a small smile. Natsu nodded and grinned wider.

"Oh sure! I remember now. Sorry, what's ya name? I didn't get it." He reached a hand up and rubbed the back of his bed-mussed head. He looked like he'd gotten up about five minutes ago.

Still looked sexy as hell, though.

"Lucy." She said quickly when she realised she was quiet a moment. Natsu turned his head to the side a little but eyed her in amusement.

"M'kay. Well, sorry again for running into ya. Lemme get you a coffee."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," she shook her head and tucked a stand of her behind her ear. "I ran into you."

Her stomach swirled again at the sound of his deep laugh.

"I insist," he said with a smile. "At least we can walk to homeroom together."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders in defeat, finding it nearly impossible not to smile with this man.

"Why not? Thank you."

"No problem."

Natsu bought Lucy her favourite coffee, milky but with no cream or sugar. She watched as he got himself a black coffee and then poured about seven sashays of sugar into it. She couldn't help but scrunch up her face.

"You really need that much sugar?"

"Hey," he replied without even missing a beat or looking up. "This is how coffee is meant to be drank."

"What? All macho but secretly sickly sweet?"

"Oh!" Natsu turned to eye her incredulously but with obvious humour as they made their way from the café, coffee cups in hand. "As opposed to looking all milky and nice but secretly bitter?"

"Hey!" Lucy laughed but was impressed. He got her there.

"So," he stopped to take a long swig of his coffee before continuing. "You in desperate need of coffee today too?"

"You have no idea," she groaned, taking a much needed gulp of her own. "What about you? Late night?"

"Very. Couldn't get off my game till stupid'o'lock."

Lucy laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"I can relate. Anyways, how are you liking Magnolia?"

Natsu shrugged a little, adjusting the white scarf around his neck before burying his free hand into his pocket and humming.

"I like it. My old man was really excited about his new job and the classes are cool."

There was sudden sense of familiarity as she chatted with the pink haired man. He went on but stopped when he saw Lucy's frown.

"You good?"

"Oh? Oh – Yeah. Your voice just reminded me of someone."

"Huh – Weird. I've been told my voice is odd."

Lucy didn't say anything in response. It was. It was deep and rugged, with an accent she couldn't place but also couldn't get enough off. But she was sure she heard it somewhere else. Natsu squinted his eyes at her, his eyes constantly amused as he ruffled her hair up.

"You're so weird," he laughed before pushing their homeroom door open. Lucy hadn't even realised they arrived at college. Before making his way to his desk, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Well, it was nice to meet ya Luce."

"It's Lucy." She told him with a smile. Natsu just nodded knowingly.

"I know." He gave her one last smirk before turning and taking his seat.

Lucy lagged a moment before her legs listened to what her brain was telling them. She slipped into her seat beside Cana, who was watching her with wide eyes.

"So…" Cana said in a low voice. "We not going to discuss what just happened? No?"

"I bumped into him. He bought me a coffee as an apology."

"Because… You bumped into him?"

"I know. It makes no sense."

Lucy did her best not to look over to Natsu, but every time she did it was like she could hear his voice again. That tone, that accent…

"What's up?" Cana asked, her voice quiet as the teacher entered. Lucy's brow furrowed and her eyes turned back over to the pink haired man.

"I don't know," she hummed. "He just reminds me of – Oh. Oh."

Lucy's heart jumped into her throat. She jolted so hard that her knee hit bottom of her desk with a loud bang.

"Dammit, ouch!" she yelped. All eyes turned to her and her own eyes widened with shock.

"Is there a problem, Miss Heartfilia?" the teacher asked. Lucy shook her head rapidly.

"Just hit my leg," she responded quietly. She could feel Cana's eyes on her. She didn't dare to look if Natsu was watching.

The teacher nodded and carried on and Lucy sat back in her chair in a daze, ignoring Cana's whispered, prodding questions and she tried her best to gather her wits and make sense of this sudden development.

Natsu Dragneel… He was Dragon.


	3. Let's Just Add One More Problem To The List

"Oh my God, oh my god, oh my god," Lucy muttered under her breath as she pressed a palm to her forehead. The teacher had left them to their own devices and Cana whipped around to face Lucy.

"What is it?"

"Oh my God," Lucy murmured again, burying her face fully into her hands before Cana pushed at her shoulder.

"Snap out of it, lady! What is going on?" she hissed under her breath. Lucy slowly pulled her face from her hands to meet her friend's eyes.

"So… I know where Dragon and Ice go to school now," she whispered feebly. Cana just frowned at her before realisation sparked in her eyes.

"Wait… Wait, wait, wait," she said as she leant back into her seat. Lucy took this time to bury her face in her palms again.

"I knew I'd heard his voice before," she moaned with nearly no volume, but Cana heard. She pondered for another moment before slapping Lucy's arm.

"Natsu?!" she asked heatedly. "The new guy?"

"Shh!" Lucy shot forwards to press a hand to Cana's mouth. She looked over her friend's shoulder to see Natsu look up in confusion in their direction. He frowned a moment before his eyes met hers. She watched as his dark green orbs narrowed in amusement before shaking his head and looking back down to his textbook.

"What? What, did he hear me?" Cana managed to ask through Lucy's hand, trying to look over her shoulder at the pink-haired man.

"I think the whole school heard you!" Lucy hissed in a whisper before releasing her and sitting back again.

"This is just so…" Cana trailed off before barking a laugh. "Remember when I said you have a knack for getting into weird situations?"

Lucy just cast her a dry look before staring at her desk and trying to gather her thoughts.

"Okay," she began, her eyes still trained on the scribbled-on desk. "He has the accent, the low voice… He said he recently moved, referred to his Dad as 'old man' just like Dragon… He was up late – last night – gaming, oh my God," Lucy ended with a whine and tapped her feet on the floor like a child.

"Lucy, this isn't a bad thing." Cana finally added after watching her breakdown.

"Are you kidding me?" Lucy asked as her eyes snapped towards the brunette incredulously. "This is a disaster. I've already spoken to him once."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know your voice," Cana reasoned. "Or that you're a girl."

Lucy just groaned again and shook her head stubbornly.

"That doesn't matter." She insisted. "I game with them every night. And I kinda-sorta may have made friends with Natsu today and I like him – No, not like that!" she snapped when Cana grinned deviously.

"I mean he seemed like someone I would want to be friends with," she continued. "And if I do it'll just be so weird! Hanging out with him at college and then going home to game with him without him even knowing it's me? And as a boy?!"

Cana nodded slowly and pursed her lips. "Yeah, I see your problem. What is it again? Oh – You're a coward."

"What?" Lucy gasped, affronted. "I am not a coward."

"Then tell the poor guy the truth. Hell, tell them all the truth. Lucy, you just need to be honest. Tell them you always got trouble for being a girl and wanted to game in peace. But then you met them and think it'll be more fun to go on call."

"And then just casually tag on the end that I go to school with two of them?" Lucy added on sarcastically. "No, thanks."

Cana sighed and shrugged. "Fine. Then stop gaming with them and be friends with Natsu."

"I can't do that! It's the first time in ages that I'm in a team I actually like and who are good at the game."

"Alright, then keep your distance from Natsu and keep playing games with him."

"No, he's too cute!" Lucy groaned and folded her arms over the desk in one swift motion and banged her head on them. Cana laughed and sat back with a shrug.

"Then you're just gonna have to keep on living your double life."

Lucy went quiet then. There really was no clear path here. It would be humiliation and to look like a freak either way.

"I know you're making a lot of sense," Lucy told Cana after a moment. "I just don't know what to do. I really like gaming with them, but I also think Natsu and I could be friends. I haven't seen him hanging out with anyone else – it must be hard to make friends in the middle of a semester and at our age. I actually really enjoyed his company."

"Can't you just admit you're insanely attracted to him?"

Lucy's face flared up in embarrassment, but she didn't reply.

"So?"

"Fine," she relented. "I have a tiny crush on him. But that doesn't mean anything; all the girls like him."

"And yet he's only ever spoke to you." Cana added and Lucy felt heat creep into her cheeks once more. She opened her mouth to reply when a shadow fell over them.

"I believe I said discuss, not gossip." The teacher told them sternly with a scowl. Lucy sat up straight and Cana rolled her eyes but quietened down as the teacher walked away.

It was quiet for a few moments before Cana spoke again.

"You don't have to do anything right away," Cana whispered without looking up from her textbook. "Just don't treat him differently – as Natsu or Dragon – and you'll be fine for a little while."

Lucy watched her friend for a moment before nodding.

"Thanks, Cana."

"Don't mention it. Ever."

Lucy laughed lightly before turning her gaze to her own textbook and actually doing some work.

"I'm gonna head to the library," Lucy told Cana as they left their last class.

"I thought you wanted to go home and get some sleep?"

"I know, I do, but I want to grab the material now. Then I don't have to worry about on my days off," she reasoned, and Cana shrugged.

"Kay. Want me to come?"

"Nah, Levy's waiting for us at the front. Walk to the dorms with her."

"You sure? It's gonna get dark soon."

"I won't stay long."

Well, that was a big lie. It took Lucy nearly an hour just to find the books since the librarian had gone home and even longer to check them out since the temp was a student and knew nothing. Once she was finally finished, she offered a strained smile to the flustered teen before turning to a nearby and shoving all the new books into her bag.

"Lucy?"

Lucy looked up to see Natsu sat at the desk she just dumped all her books on. Her throat dried up at the sight of him leant back in his chair, hair dishevelled from running his fingers through it as he studied the multiple books strewn open in front of him. His head was turned to the side as he watched her with obvious amusement.

"Natsu," she managed as she took a step back. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"I noticed," he chuckled. Lucy stepped forwards to pull her bag from his desk before dropping it embarrassingly on the floor, unprepared for the new weight.

"Shoot," she muttered as she crouched down to pick her bag up, but a larger hand beat her to it.

She stood to face Natsu's now standing form. He weighed the packed bag in his arm a moment before raising his brows at her.

"You takin' the whole library?" he joked but didn't pass the bag back. Lucy blushed.

"I needed a few new books for an assignment that was set today," she explained as she shuffled on her feet. Natsu nodded promptly before placing her bag back onto the table.

"You walkin' home?" he asked as he buried his hands in his pockets. Lucy nodded and he frowned. "At this hour?"

Lucy grimaced and looked to their side to the window to find that the sky had darkened considerably. She opened her mouth to reply but hesitated before shrugging.

"I'll be fine," she began to say but Natsu had already started packing up. He placed all his books back on the shelves before shrugging his jacket back on and grabbing his backpack.

"I'll walk ya," he said. Lucy shook her head furiously. She could not have a typical conversation knowing that this was the guy she stayed up till ungodly hours gaming with.

"No – Really, it's fine," she began but he had already scooped her bag up and started making his way from the library.

She caught up with him with little difficulty and tried to gently pry her bag from his arm. "I can carry my bag…"

"Nu-uh," he readjusted to white shoulder bag on his shoulder. "I got it. You on campus?"

"Oh – Yeah. Yes."

"Alright then."

They walked in a comfortable silence as they exited the building. Lucy looked up at his face shortly before turning and casting her eyes back to the ground.

"So," she began as the cold air nipped at her face. "You on campus too?"

Natsu nodded and turned to smile at her. "Yah. But my old man lives near the city centre, so I stay there sometimes as well"

"I see." Lucy nodded slowly.

"You parent's live close too?"

"Nope – Mine aren't around." She smiled at him kindly and he didn't push the subject. It was quiet for another moment before Lucy's teeth started chattering.

"You cold?" Natsu asked with a frown, lagging a little in his steps.

"I'm fine," she told him, but he stopped all together and started pulling his white, scaly scarf from around his neck.

"Take this," he told her, but Lucy was already shaking her head.

"No, I couldn't," she told him. He had been at school nearly three weeks now and, even though she had only officially met him today, she noticed he never went anywhere without his scarf. Natsu just chuckled lowly and stepped towards her.

"You have a nasty habit of denying favours," he commented lightly as he wrapped the scarf around her. Lucy's breath caught in her throat at his sudden closeness and the heat of the scarf. He didn't step away or remove his grasp as she drew up hand to feel the fabric wrapped snugly around her neck.

"It's warm," she said quietly and Natsu gave her a cheeky, fanged grin that made her heart stutter.

"Good!" He released his grip of the scarf and began walking again. Lucy had to job a little to catch up.

"Thank you," she said with a little more confidence. "I'll give it back once we get to my dorm."

"Sounds good," Natsu smirked at her. "Which dorm?"

"Uh – Next left."

They walked for a few more minutes when they finally stopped at the door of her dormitory.

"This is me," she said as she turned. It was hard not to gasp at his form stood lazily outside her dorm building. His tanned throat was exposed due to absence of his scarf and his pink hair hung messily over his eyes before he pushed it away. He was so handsome she wanted to cry. He pushed his hands into his pockets and grinned at her.

"This was cool," he said as he passed her bag to her. Lucy nodded as she took it. "I gotta run though. My buddies are waiting for me."

Curiosity and apprehension coursed through her and she tiled her head. "You room with your friends?"

"Oh, no. I have a single room. I talk with them online. We play games together."

A knot formed in Lucy's stomach as she knew any doubt she had of him being Dragon was soon to be nil. She kept her smile and nodded gently.

"Sounds nice," she said and took another step back. "Have fun. I'll see you on Monday, I guess."

Natsu smirked again and fell back a step himself. "Yah. See ya 'round Luce."

"It's Lucy."

He laughed; the rumbling sound sent sparks through her.

"I know." He turned on his heels and turned to make his way in the direction they had come. Lucy realised she didn't even know how far he had walked from his own dorms just to see her home safely.

Lucy watched as his form faded out of sight, her heart pounding painfully in her chest before she finally ran up into the dormitories.

"Okay," she said to herself as she let herself into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. "Maybe it isn't him. Dragon cannot be that attractive. There is just no way."

She flicked off her shoes and made her way into her room to strip off her clothes and pull her fluffy pyjamas back on. She stepped into her slippers and didn't even put her clothes into the hamper before taking a seat in front of her PC.

"Okay," she said as she booted up the computer. "If he doesn't mention anything about tonight, it isn't him. Maybe he's on already."

It was then that Lucy released she was talking to herself like a crazy person. She slapped a hand to her forehead and heaved a sigh of relief when she joined the active call and muted her mic.

"Chill!"

"Sup."

She listened a moment longer before typing.

Hey guys. Dragon not on yet?

"Nah, we've been waiting for you both," Ice told her.

"Yah, the fuck you been?" Metal added with his usual charm.

Got caught up at college. Got all weekend now though!

"Amen to that!" Ice drawled and Metal laughed gruffly.

"Alright. Ice Princess and I will finish this game then invite, kay?"

Sounds good.

Ice and Metal were in game for another twenty minutes before they invited her. The whole time she was playing all she could think about was Natsu. Was Natsu really Dragon? Was life really that fucking ironic?

Another ten minutes passed before Dragon's voice flooded in their ears.

"Sorry guys!"

"The fuck you been?" Metal asked.

"I just got home," he said, and Lucy felt her stomach flip. "Had to study a little after class."

"Whatever. We're nearly finished here then we'll invite you." Ice said shortly.

"Sound's good – Oh, shit!" Dragon yelped before cursing again.

"What?" Metal growled, absorbed in the game.

"I leant my scarf to someone and forgot to get it back, ah – It's fine, I'll get it Monday."

Lucy felt like someone had punched her in the throat. The blood rushed so loudly in her ears she could barely hear the responses.

"You shared your sacred scarf?" Ice asked disbelievingly. "The scarf that used to get tangled in your headset because you never took it off. That scarf?"

"Yah. I walked this girl home from class since it was dark," he explained, and Lucy nearly forgot how to breath. He was talking about her. Right now. To Ice and Metal. While she listened. "She got cold."

"You walked a girl home?" Metal asked. Lucy could clearly hear the grin in his voice. "I've never heard you talk about a girl before. Was she – "

Lucy shut her computer down mid game for the second time in the last two days.

"Okay. I'm screwed."


	4. Thing's Get Better Before They Get Worse, Right?

Lucy sat staring at a blank screen for God knows how long. She now knew for certain that Dragon was Natsu. Or Natsu was Dragon. Whichever it was. With that, she now also knew that Ice went to her college too. Had she met him? Was he in her classes?

She heaved a groan and slumped so she banged her head on her desk but she didn't care. She stood from her desk and made her way to her bathroom, where she planned to taka a very long, very relaxing bath. She paused as she passed the pile of clothes she had discarded on the floor.

Lucy hummed a little before bending down to shuffle through to pile and grabbing Natsu's scarf. She clicked her tongue before hanging it on the back of her door so that it was safe. What was so special about it, anyway? She shook her head at herself before finally entering her bathroom and drawing a bath.

She had successfully relaxed for a whole five minutes before her phone started ringing. Lucy whined before quickly drying one of her hands and reaching over to grab her phone and answer it.

"Levy?" she asked, shuffling a little as the water sloshed around her.

"Lu!" The blunette cried in her ear. "Cana told me – Are you in the bath?"

Lucy swirled the water around with her legs before shrugging.

"Yep."

"M'kay. Cana told me about Natsu." Lucy sighed.

"Of course she did." Lucy sighed.

"Are you sure? Like really sure?"

"I am now," Lucy breathed and heard Cana making an 'Ooo'-ing sound in the background.

"What happened?" Levy asked, ignoring her roommate. Lucy hesitated a moment before sighing again in defeat and sitting up straighter in the bath.

"Okay," she began. "So, I went to get some books after class but the librarian was out so it took forever. It was dark by the time I had to leave and – It turned out Natsu was studying there…"

Lucy heard kissy noises through the phone, then a thump.

"Sorry," Levy said, ignoring Cana's groans. "Continue."

"He asked if I was walking home and when I said I was, he offered to walk me since it was dark."

"That's kind of him," Levy commented. Lucy scoffed.

"That's not even half of it," she remarked. "He carried my bag since it was heavy and eventually gave me his scarf too."

"Aww!" Levy squealed and Lucy could swear she heard Cana make gagging noises. "He must like you, Lu. But, wait - How does this confirm that he's Dragon?"

"That's just it," Lucy whimpered as she sat back. "He told me he had to get home to join his friends online, so when I got in I went straight to my PC. He came on about half an hour later saying he had just gotten home from studying,"

"People study, Lucy."

"And that he walked a girl home since it was dark."

"I – I mean guys do that. It still seems a little farfetched – "

"And that he had forgotten to get his scarf back off her."

It was silent for a long moment before Lucy had to physically move the phone away from her head as to not be deafened.

"You heard him talk about you?" Levy spluttered. "And you listened?"

"No!" Lucy cried. "I turned it off the moment the others started asking questions. It was too weird. It makes me feel like some – "

"Stalker?" Cana offered.

"Yes!"

"Lu!" Levy laughed. "You're not a stalker. This is just a really, really weird situation. It's just uncanny."

"Right?" Lucy replied, sitting up so quickly that some water splashed from the tub. "And they're gonna end up suspecting something if I keep just shutting my computer every time they talk about me or college. I'm lucky they haven't asked questions already."

As Lucy said that, her phone buzzed and she frowned and put the girls on speaker so she could see what it was.

"Hold on, Metal messaged me," she muttered with a frown.

"What, why? How do you know?" Levy asked.

"I have the chatroom app we use on my phone," she said shortly with a frown as she opened the message. "Oh, great."

"What?" Levy gasped and Lucy could hear Cana asking questions too. "What did he say?"

"He said Ice and Dragon have got off and he wants to talk," she murmured slowly, a horrible knot tightening in her stomach. "I am so screwed."

"He might just want to make sure that you're okay," Levy offered, her voice optimistic. Lucy scoffed.

"Sure. I have to get out anyway, the water's getting cold."

"Let us know what happens, Lu."

"You guys just want gossip and to make fun of me," Lucy grumbled. She heard Cana call in the background to confirm her suspicions.

"Ignore her," Levy laughed. "Bye Lu! Good luck."

"Thanks."

She placed the phone on the side before taking a deep breath and getting ready to get out.

"Okay," she muttered to herself as she finally sat in front of her PC. She had told Metal that she would be on in ten, and now she ready but very wary. She'd never spoken to any of the guys on their own before (if you don't count Natsu) so she was a little hesitant. She swallowed her fears before booting up her computer and entering the chatroom.

Metal wasn't on call but he was online.

ThatChillGuy: What's up?

ThatMetalMan: That's what I wanted to ask you.

Lucy winced a little; Metal really wasn't one to beat around the bush. A feeling of dread started building in her stomach as she typed a response.

ThatChillGuy: What do you mean?

ThatMetalMan: Stop fucking around. The guys don't notice this kinda shit but I do. Every time they talk about school you get weird and leave.

ThatChillGuy: Every time? You mean those whole two times?

ThatMetalMan: Good one. Gonna tell me what's going on or what?

Lucy whined pathetically and stomped her feet on the floor as she glared at his message. They had been gaming together for a few months now so I guess it wasn't too weird that he was checking up on her. But still. She couldn't help but feel a little out the loop with those three as she never went on call, so why does he have to make a big deal out of it?

ThatChillGuy: My PC keeps shutting off on it's own. DW, I'm getting it fixed.

ThatMetalMan: And it just happens to turn off whenever they talk about college?

ThatChillGuy: Metal, it's cool. It's obviously just a coincidence.

ThatMetalMan: Nah, man. You never come on call but you are cool with playing with us and listening to those two idiots bullshit. And now you're acting all weird when they talk about school and leaving in the middle of games. Spill.

Lucy just sat back in her chair, the knot of dread in her stomach turning into anger quite quickly.

ThatChillGuy: Fine. You know what? I got weird because I'm actually a girl and I changed my name to a guy one since I got so much grief for being a female and liking to game.

I freaked out yesterday because you guys started talking about living in the same city as me. I didn't want to hear that any of you lived close since it'd make me feel weirder about lying.

AND THEN, Dragon started talking about me on call today since he and Ice got to my stupid college and I got a freaked out AGAIN and left. That good enough for you?

Lucy typed the message out furiously before angrily slamming on the send button and burying her face in her hands.

"Oh my God, oh my god, oh my god," she moaned into her palms. She didn't dare look up at the screen until she heard a familiar melody.

She looked up slowly to see that Metal was calling her. Lucy felt she lost the ability to breath before slowly placing her headset on answering the call.

"Chill?" she heard Metal's gruff voice ask quietly. She quickly muted herself and heard Metal bark a laugh.

"Really? Cat's out the bag now, lady. Unmute yourself."

Lucy groaned a little before doing as he said.

"Hi…" she said miserably and Metal laughed again.

"Shit, you really are a girl." He chuckled. "So, you really got trouble off people just for being a chick?"

"Yeah," Lucy sighed, speaking up a little. "I eventually just stopped talking when I was in call but guys could tell by my name that I was a girl and would get weird. So – "

"So you changed it," Metal hummed in consideration. "It's pretty fucked up that you had to do that just because you're good at games."

"I'll say," she grumbled, her heart still hammering in her chest. "So?"

"So what?"

"You don't think I'm a big freak?"

Metal laughed loudly again.

"Nah, you're fine. I get your reasons but there's one thing I'm confused about."

"Shoot."

"You said Dragon talked about you," Lucy forgot how to breath again. "What were you talking about?"

"…You know that girl he mentioned he walked home today?" She said slowly and sensed Metal nodded before talking.

"Yeah, but – Oh. Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's fucked up."

"Yup."

Suddenly, Metal burst into laugher again. Lucy felt her cheeks flame in embarrassment before finding her voice.

"It's not funny!"

"No, it's hysterical!" He cackled and Lucy huffed. "Dragon was saying – "

"No," Lucy held her hands up even though she knew Metal couldn't see her. "I don't want to hear it. It's too weird."

"Fine," Metal said when he finally got his laughter under control. "But this is just insane. What are the actual odds of this happening?"

"I'd say like a billion to one," she sighed. "It's not fair. I wanted to come on call with you guys and come clean but I left it way too long. Then when I realised that Dragon was Natsu – "

"Wait, wait, time out - Flame Brain's name is Natsu?"

It was quiet for a long moment before Lucy spoke again.

"I didn't say that."

"Sure."

Lucy frowned gloomily at herself. "This is all really hopeless. It's two weird that I have classes with Dragon and know that Ice is in the school somewhere too - "

"Umm…" Metal interrupted and Lucy froze.

"What?"

"I hate to kick a buddy while they're down," Metal rumbled, but he didn't sound sorry at all. "But I actually go your college too."

Lucy felt her throat constrict and she shook her head furiously.

"You are kidding me."

"Nope," he drawled, sounding amused. "I'm just not in your guy's building. I'm studying mechanics so – "

"You're on the other side of Campus," she finished for him.

"Yeah," he said. "We all thought it was really weird too. We've gamed together on and off for years, so to think that we all live so close now…"

"It is eerie." Lucy agreed and Metal hummed. It was quiet for a moment before Metal broke the silence.

"I won't tell them," Lucy frowned before Metal carried on. "Dragon and Ice. I won't tell them that you're a chick."

"You won't?" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected that. "Why?"

"You obviously don't want them to know." Lucy could practically hear the shrug in his voice. "And you obviously need to do some thinking about how you're going to tell Dragon. That sounds pretty complicated."

"It is."

"Then, I'll keep quiet. But you need to tell them eventually. And then we can finally go on call and never lose a game again."

Lucy smiled for the first time in the call and nodded to herself.

"Deal."

"Kay," She heard him groan and assumed he was stretching before he spoke again. "Well, this has been very enlightening. Nice to finally meet ya, Chill." Lucy laughed lightly.

"You too, Metal."

"I'm gonna turn in. See you tomorrow?"

"You got it. Night."

"G'night."

Metal left the call and went offline. Lucy stared at the screen a moment longer before pouncing at her phone to call her friends.

Lucy woke up feeling very confused. She stayed up on the phone with Levy and Cana for nearly four hours telling them about Metal. She was already sleep deprived enough as it is. She grabbed her phone and hissed when she noticed it had ran out in the night. She had stood to place it on charge when she heard a loud knocking at her door.

Lucy frowned before stepping back into her slippers and pulling her hair into a messy bun, letting her bangs fall free and frame her face. She had washed off all her make up last night. Her face was clean so she was sure she didn't look like a demon. She shrugged to herself before wrapping her silk dressing gown around her and making her way to the door.

As she pulled it open, she immediately regretted not looking in a mirror.

Natsu stood, poised at her door as if preparing to knock again. He looked down at her face and lowered his arm before grinning.

"Sorry," he said as he tucked his hand into his pocket. "I didn't know if you were asleep."

Lucy shook her head wordlessly before her eyes widened in realisation. "Your scarf!"

Natsu smirked again and nodded. Lucy felt her chest clench as she opened the door wider for him to enter. "Come on in and I'll grab it."

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise but he nodded and stepped into her dorm.

"How did you know which dorm was mine?" she asked as she made her way into her room.

"I ran into your friend," he called and she froze.

"Which one?"

"Um – Brown hair?" Lucy rolled her eyes. She'd have to have words with Cana later. She pulled the scarf from her door and turned to find that Natsu had followed her.

"Oh – Um, here you are." She passed him the white fabric. He thanked her before wrapping it around his neck right away. Lucy couldn't help but think he did look more complete with it on.

"I'm sorry for bargin' in like this. I would have waited till Monday but – Oh, wow!"

Lucy followed his gaze to her PC behind her and couldn't help but smile proudly. She did have a pretty cool set up.

"You game?" he asked, staring at the PC but respectively not entering her room. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," she shrugged when he grinned wider.

"That's pretty cool," he drawled, leaning on the door frame and eyeing her set up once more. Lucy felt a little flutter in her stomach and she assessed the situation. The most attractive man she had ever seen, leaning on her doorframe and admiring her PC… She shook the thought from her head before stepping around him and into the hall.

"You want to stay for a coffee?" she heard herself ask, but Natsu shook his head.

"I would, but I've got to get to my Dad's," Lucy nodded in understanding and Natsu tilted his head as he watched her, his eyes gleaming. "Maybe I could another time, though?"

Lucy froze for a moment. Any words she had caught in her throat so she just nodded. She must have looked a sight since Natsu's lips curled into a slow smirk before he made his way around her and to the door.

"Thanks again, Luce." He thanked her. She turned stiffly and followed him to the door.

"No problem," she said as he pulled her door open and stepped out before turning to face her.

"I'll see you Monday?" he asked, an amused smile playing at his lips.

"Yes," Lucy breathed, finally managing a smile. Natsu grinned wide before nodding and making his way from the dormitories. Lucy watched him for a moment before quickly closing her door and spinning around to press her back to it.

"What am I going to do?"


	5. Well, That's Just Great

When the weekend ended and Sunday night came upon her, Lucy felt nauseated. Metal knew Lucy's secret, and even though he had promised not to tell Dragon and Ice, she still felt a little on edge. He gave her no reason to doubt him, but there was still a little nagging feeling of uncertainty. Having Metal know and the two others not just made her feel that much more awkward whenever they went on call.

"Chill, the fuck you doing? Ya panties in a twist?"

Lucy grit her teeth and angrily spammed her button on the mouse to shoot, 'accidentally' shooting Metal's character in the process.

"OI!"

Ice and Dragon cackled with laughter, but Lucy just shook her head. Metal had suddenly come up with a flood of new female related digs that he threw her way just to make her panic. She had messaged him furiously about it and he had just laughed.

As Metal grumbled and they won their game, Lucy leant back. She was about to message and ask if they wanted another round when her headset chimed and turned off.

"Ah, hell." She muttered, pulling it from her head and pushing her hair back. She leant forwards to read the chat.

IceBreaker: Chill, can you hear us?

She sighed before typing a reply.

ThatChillGuy: Sorry, my headset ran out.

FireSpittingDragon: I think Metal's getting off anyways. Rain check tomorrow?

ThatChillGuy: Sounds good to me. I could do with an early night to be fair.

ThatMetalMan: Chill, come on call a sec.

Lucy rolled her eyes and jammed a response.

ThatChillGuy: No.

ThatMetalMan: No, seriously I needa talk.

IceBreaker: Wait, you guys have been on call?

FireSpittingDragon: What the hell, Chill? Come on call with me, I'm way cooler.

Lucy laughed lightly before shaking her head and replying.

ThatChillGuy: Headset ran out remember?

No one had replied for a few moments before Lucy typed again.

ThatChillGuy: Guys?

ThatMetalMan: Sorry. Ice and Dragon are still crying that you don't talk to them.

IceBreaker: I couldn't care less.

ThatMetalMan: Liar.

FireSpittingDragon: Yeah, you were literally just agreeing with me.

Lucy seriously had to fight laughing too loud as she read the messages. She did feel a twinge of guilt that the others felt left out but shook it away. If she could have it her way, Metal wouldn't know either.

Just as she was pondering this, Metal messaged her privately.

ThatMetalMan: Nah, but seriously, do you have an old headset you can use? I gotta tell ya something.

Lucy frowned but sent a speedy response before jumping back into the group chat.

ThatChillGuy: Anyway, I'm gonna get off, you guys. See you all tomorrow!

IceBreaker: Fine, but you're coming on call tomorrow.

FireSpittingDragon: YES

FireSpittingDragon: Yes, you are.

Lucy shook her head before leaving the chat. She stood and made her way over to her closet and rummaged through her old gaming things before coming across her old headset. There was nothing wrong with it, she only upgraded so she could get wireless one and stop pulling her monitors and computer from her desk when she forgets she had them on and walked away.

"Hopefully they still work," she murmured to herself before making her way back into her room and crouching down to plug them into her PC and slip them onto her head.

She adjusted the settings in the group so that she appeared offline before calling Metal. She sighed with relief as the sound worked. Hopefully the mic did too.

"Hey," Metal's gruff voice sounded in her ears.

"Hi, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah,"

Lucy nodded before huffing in annoyance.

"Good. Now, wanna tell me why you're acting like such a psychopath?"

Metal laughed loudly.

"I was just having a little fun," he managed between chuckles. "You seriously think I could go in game with you and them guys and not make you sweat a little?"

"Make me sweat?" she spluttered in disbelief. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were gonna be cool,"

"And I am being cool," he assured her, his voice thick with amusement. "But I was also having a good time."

"Whatever," she grumbled. "Wanna tell me what's up?"

"Oh, yeah," his voice suddenly serious. "I thought you should know that I think Dragon and Ice have fully met each other now – Or they're going to soon."

"What?"

"They were talking about college and apparently they're in the same building and in similar departments," Lucy winced. This was already more information than she wanted to know but she didn't interrupt.

"I think they both suspect who the other is and have this whole nemesis thing going on. I just thought I'd tell ya in case you see them and freak out. You're already making a big enough deal of this whole thing as it is so…" He trailed off and Lucy slammed her fist down on her desk.

"The deal I am making is entirely in proportion for the situation." She snapped. Metal just scoffed.

"Sure thing."

Lucy just groaned and rubbed her temples.

"Are we done here?"

"Well, no," Metal hesitated. "You're in the same classes as Dragon, right?"

"…Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I told him, but you weren't online. I'm being transferred to your building for a couple of weeks for some academical lessons. They wanted us closer to the library."

Lucy's chest tightened but she frowned.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "It's not like I would know who you were if I saw you."

"Ohhhh, I think you might," he said in strained voice. Lucy's brow furrowed further. "If you don't, I'll be surprised. Just thought I'd warn ya."

Lucy stayed quiet for a moment before shaking her head and raising her chin.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," she told him. "I'm busy all week, so I doubt I'll notice anything."

Metal chuckled again eerily before responding. "Yah, hold that thought. Anyways, I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Good idea. Goodnight Metal."

"Night."

Metal went offline and Lucy sunk back into her chair and folded her arms. Okay. So, two possible dilemmas for the coming week but surely, she could get through them. She could just avoid Natsu in the coming week, therefore avoiding Ice too. And she seriously doubts she could tell who Metal was just by knowing the name ThatMetalMan and his voice. He obviously has some kind of superiority complex. Yeah, that was it.

Lucy nodded sharply to herself, happy with her reasoning, before standing and getting ready for bed.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," Levy's voice sounded behind her as Cana and she caught up to Lucy on her walk to college.

"Finally get some sleep?" Cana asked with a grin. Lucy smiled back and nodded.

"Yep, and I feel great," she told them.

"No new developments in you weird, uncanny, ridiculous gaming/love life?" Cana asked in a bright voice. Lucy gave her a dry look before turning her gaze back forwards.

"There is no love life," she began through grit teeth. "But there was a slight development."

"What is it?" Levy asked. Lucy had to ignore the laugh in her voice.

"Metal did predict prophecy of disaster, but – " Lucy held a hand up to halt her friends before they asked any questions, "I have decided to ignore it because I don't feel like freaking out."

"What did he say?" Cana asked, running a hand through her wavy brown hair as they walked.

"He said that Ice and Dragon seem to be close to meeting at college," she told them. It was hard to say without whining but she did her best. "He also told me that he was being transferred to our building and he wanted to warn me."

"Seems like pretty useless information," Levy commented before Lucy could explain. "How would you know who he was? It makes no difference either way."

"That's what I said. But he insists that I'd know who he was if I saw him."

"Seems a little weird to me. How could you know?"

"I couldn't," Lucy chirped. "So, there is no need to panic. No need at a – "

Before Lucy had even finished her sentence, her eyes landed on her college's entrance where a small crowd was forming.

"What the…?" she trailed off. After shooting her friends a look they all scurried forward.

It was a fight. That's what it sounded like, anyways. People were gasping and some were cheering. Lucy tried to look over the crowd, but she couldn't see. All she could hear was grunts and the sound of fists hitting flesh. She lost interest and nearly walked away when something made a shiver of dread run down her spine.

"FIGHT ME, ICE BREATH!"

Lucy completely froze. She shut her eyes and winced before turning slowly, ignoring Levy and Cana as she pushed herself into the crowd with newfound persistence.

"BACK OFF FLAME BRAIN," Yep. She knew that voice. It continued as she pushed through the sea of bodies. "DON'T MAKE ME PUNCH YOUR TEETH IN!"

As Lucy finally fumbled to the front of the crowd, Levy and Cana right behind her, she took in the sight.

It was Natsu. His pink hair gorgeously dishevelled and his mouth turned down in an angry snarl. Lucy could detect a glint of enthusiasm and cheerfulness in his eyes too, but that was certainly shadowed by the scowl.

As Lucy unwillingly turned her eyes to his opponent, she was embarrassed to admit she wasn't disappointed. Ice was more or less the same height as Natsu but had shaggy, raven black hair. He had these narrow, gorgeous bedroom eyes that were deep blue. She could imagine they would look almost indifferent if they weren't so alert.

"I suddenly have about a million more insults for ya, Droopy eyes!" Natsu barked after they stopped brawling for a moment.

"I could say the same thing, Squinty eyes," Ice drawled, his eyes narrowed.

"Ice Queen!"

"Fire breath!"

"Ice Block!"

"Flame Brain!"

"STRIPPER!"

"Fire – What?" Ice looked down at himself and Lucy found herself following his gaze. Her face lit up when she finally realised he had shed all his clothes in the fight, leaving him in only his underwear. He didn't even have shoes on. "Ah, when did that happen?!"

Even Natsu paused in confusion as Ice glanced around for his clothes.

"Wait, wait, you – You strip without realising?"

There was a long silence before it was completely shattered by the sound of Natsu's uncontrollable laughter.

"Shut up!" Ice snapped.

"'When did this happ – PAHAHAHAHAHA…"

Ice growled and the whole thing kickstarted another brawl. Lucy finally noticed Levy and Cana pulling at her shoulder's when they realised a professor was finally coming to break up the altercation.

Lucy turned, dragging her eyes from the two men and following her friends silently.

"So…" Cana began. Lucy nodded once.

"Yep."

"Wow."

It was silent for another moment before Lucy stopped and actually stomped her foot. She really did.

"This is so unfair," she moaned. "Now I have to feel weird around the both of them?!"

"You could just not feel weird," Levy offered with a cautious smile. "It's really not a massive deal. Just act normal around them."

Lucy fought a shriek of frustration. How many times had she had this conversation? "Cana, explain to her."

Cana shot her a look but did as she said, nonetheless. As Cana started to recite her and Lucy's previous conversations, Lucy turned and made her way promptly to homeroom despite being early.

To her dismay (she told herself) Natsu was the only one there. He looked a little worse for wear, his clothes a little messy, and his hair, but other than that she saw no visible injuries. She found herself sighing with relief. He was sat at his desk and typing on his phone, a smirk on his face before he looked up.

His eyes widened when they found Lucy. Lucy found herself completely unable to move before he offered her a grin and released her.

"Hey Luce!" He chirped with a wave. Lucy smiled good-naturedly at the nickname before taking her own seat.

"Hi Natsu," she said as she sat. "I saw you, um – fighting earlier. You okay?"

Natsu laughed loudly and nodded, waving off her concerns.

"I'm fine. Gray's an old friend of mine. We've gamed together for years."

Lucy's heart stuttered at the information. Great, now she knew Ice's name. "Wow, years? Have you ever met before today?"

Natsu shook his head and glanced at his phone. "Nah. We've been in contact since we were kids though. Pain in my ass."

Lucy found herself laughing. It was clear the two were best friends, they just obviously hid it with hostility. Natsu looked up at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"What is it?" he asked with a chuckle. Lucy just shook her head.

"It's nothing." She shrugged and smiled at him. "It's really nice you finally got to meet him."

Natsu just shook his head at her with another laugh before glancing back down at his phone. "Just told my old man about it. He knows Gray and I go way back."

Lucy leant forwards in interest. "What did he say?"

"'Did you kick his ass?'" Natsu laughed noisily before typing a response, muttering: 'Yes…'.

Lucy shot him a look, unable to fight the smile on her face. "Your Dad and you sound very alike."

"You can say that again," Natsu looked back up at her with a smile. Lucy found herself unable to speak for a moment before she found her tongue.

"Uh – So did you get into trouble?"

"Eh?"

"The fight," she gestured at his form. "I saw the professor split it up. Was he mad?"

"Oh, nah," Natsu leant back in his chair and shook his head with a smirk. "He was cool. Gray and I explained, and he just said make sure it doesn't happen again."

"And?"

"And…" Natsu tilted his head in confusion. Lucy giggled.

"Are you gonna let it happen again?" Natsu 'Ooo'ed in realisation before scoffing.

"Oh, absolutely," Lucy laughed again, a real laugh, and looked up when Natsu went quiet. He was just staring at her, a confused look in his eyes before he finally realised she was watching him too. He frowned a little to himself before clearing his throat quietly.

"Um – Lucy, do you think you maybe, wanna - "

He was cut off, much to Lucy's disappointment, as the rest of the students started filtering into the room and walking between them. Lucy saw Natsu smile apologetically before mouthing: 'Later'. Lucy nodded, trying really hard to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as Cana finally took her seat beside her.

"Why are you all sparkly?" her friend asked her as she pulled her books out. Lucy just ignored her, a sense of dread and excitement coursing through her.

"I'll tell you later."

"Kay," Cana shrugged. "It's about Natsu though, right?"

"You don't know that."

"I'll literally give you $10,000 if it wasn't about Natsu."

Lucy dug an elbow in her friend's side before turning her gaze back up to look at Natsu. He wasn't looking at her anymore, but the moment her eyes fell on him, he looked at her.

He held her gaze for a moment and Lucy dragged her eyes from his. From the corner of her eye, she saw his gaze linger before he shook his head and looked back down at his book. Lucy had to fight a giggle before reaching down for her own books.

Yah, she was in trouble.


	6. Fuck It, Why Not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I cannot thank you all enough for all the kind reviews I have gotten! You have no idea how happy it makes me!
> 
> I'll be continuing this story and it will definitely be a long one so please stay turned and keep reviewing!
> 
> Thank you so much.

When Lucy returned home after a long, rather emotionally draining day, she found herself calling Metal.

ThatChillGuy: METAL, PICK UP RIGHT NOW.

ThatChillGuy: METAL PLEASE

ThatChillGuy: C'MON, I ANSWER WHEN YOU CALL

ThatChillGuy: METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

The moment it finally popped up that he had read her messages, she rang him right away.

"Metal!"

"God damn it, woman!" He groaned; his voice sharp. "What's your problem?"

"Metal, I need you to be a girl for ten minutes, can you do that?" She asked quickly, her voice high with excitement.

"The fuck you on about?" He snapped; Lucy could hear him sitting down before he suddenly sighed with realisation. "Oh, for fucks sake. Did something happen with Dragon again?"

"Yes, and I need to talk about it with someone who knows him," she was practically jumping in her seat.

"Why me?" he growled. "I hate this kinda shit."

"Metal…" She whined. She heard him sigh deeply and go quiet before speaking again.

"You have ten minutes." He drawled. Lucy squealed with happiness before leaning forwards.

"So, you were right. I found out who Ice was; I know his name and what he looks like now too."

"Oh, yeah?" Metal sighed; Lucy could hear him run a hand over his face. "He as ugly as I imagine?"

"No, he's cute as fuck but average compared to Dragon," she dismissed, ignoring his disgusted groan. "Anyways, they were fighting – "

"Sounds about right."

"And I spoke to Nats – Dragon after it. Alone. In a classroom."

"How scandalous."

"Shut up. Anyway, I am ninety-eight percent sure he was going to ask me out."

"Oh," Metal hummed with slight interest. "That's different. I've never heard Dragon express any interest in anyone. How do you know?"

"Well, he was about to ask me if I wanted to do something, but he was cut off when people started coming into class," she explained with a disappointed frown. "But what else could it have been?"

"Maybe he wanted to ask something innocent," Metal suggested, and Lucy recoiled.

"Didn't I say act like a girl?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a girl," Metal barked. "What do you want from me?"

"To tell me I'm right!" Lucy yelled with a laugh. Metal sighed again.

"Seriously, who are you right now?" He asked, though amusement was alight in his tone. "I thought you were freaking out because you know him in real life as well as in game. And now you want to date him?"

"You haven't seen him," Lucy groaned and leaned back into her seat. "He's gorgeous."

"Mkay – First of all, gross. And second of all, what are you gonna do if you date him and he asks if you like gaming?" Metal asked and she froze. "You gonna lie?"

"Well – Well, no, but – "

"And then when you don't lie, and he asked you what games you play. You gonna lie then?"

"…You make a terrible girl."

"That's because I'm not a girl – I'm a guy." He huffed again. "Why didn't you talk to your girl friends?"

Lucy grunted in annoyance and sank back into her chair. "They're either making fun of me or just over doing it. They think I'm insane."

"Hah, that's because you are fucking insane," Metal chuckled, and Lucy grumbled. Metal scoffed. "Don't gimme that. It's true. The sooner you tell them both the truth the sooner you can relax. Especially around Dragon. It's pretty obvious you have the hots for him."

Lucy spluttered. "I do not. He's just cute, that's all."

"Kay. You wanna lie, whatever. You're obsessed."

Lucy rolled her eyes before tilting her chin up.

"Anyway, I didn't notice you in college today. Not that I would have anyway."

"Hah, trust me, if I was close by, you would have," Metal laughed. "We have all week."

"I don't understand why you're so convinced I'd know," Lucy pondered, shaking her head. "What's so special about you?"

"I just stand out," Metal offered and that was all the explanation she received. "Anyways, I have to get shit sorted for tomorrow. You done using me as a girlfriend?"

"For now," Lucy said with a smirk. "Talk later?"

"You got it. See ya."

"Bye."

Lucy turned off her PC and stood to flop down onto her bed, Metal's words ringing in her ears. He had a point. Even if Natsu had asked her out, it's not like she could have said yes. As much as she wanted to go out with him, it would just feel too weird.

"I mean," Lucy mumbled to herself while she stared at her ceiling. "It's not like I'd be able to relax or be myself."

She lowered her voice, trying to imitate Natsu. "'Hey Lucy, what do you do for fun?' Hah, not game, that's for sure."

Lucy groaned and rolled over to bury her face in a pillow.

"I'm an idiot," she muttered. She should have just told him everything the moment she realised who he was. How did she let this all get so complicated?

"Coward," she grumbled when she heard a knock at her door.

"Coming," she called softly with a sigh before forcing herself to roll over and sit up. She smoothed her hair a little as she made her way over to the door and pulled it open.

Her eyes widened as she took in Natsu's form in all his glory. His scarf was, as ever, wrapped around his neck. He was clad in a plain t-shirt and only thin jacket even though it was freezing outside. His pink hair was as wild as always and his lips curled into a smirk when his eyes met hers.

"Hey," he said lightly. Lucy blinked for a moment before she formed any words to speak.

"Hi," she wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," he looked down and pulled her textbook from his bag. "You left this after class. I was goin' to give it to ya friend, but she said she had to run so…" He grinned again and offered it to her.

"Thank you," she murmured with a smile as to took the book and hugged it to her chest. She hesitated a moment before smiling wider. "You want that coffee now?"

Natsu grinned wider and nodded before stepping over her threshold. "Why not?"

Lucy nodded and stepped aside so he could fully enter. As he made his way over to her small couch, she made her way to the kettle.

"This is a nice place," he commented as she poured water into the kettle. "Kinda big for a single dorm, though."

"Yeah, my parent's left me some money. I knew I wanted a small kitchen and living area and couldn't resist," she shrugged to herself as she boiled the kettle. "It could probably house two people, but I like my space."

"That's fair," It was quiet for a moment before he continued. "So, your parents gave you the money for this place? That's sweet."

"Left me the money," Lucy corrected with a smile. "They were pretty well off, but they died a while back. They left me a lot."

"Oh – " Lucy poured their drinks while he fumbled for words. "Well, that sucks."

Lucy had to laugh. His response was the most refreshing one she'd ever received. "Hah, yeah. It's okay though, I've made my peace with it. I'm lucky to have great friends."

"That's alright then," Natsu grinned as she turned to hand him his mug. She offered him a bright smile. "Any other family watching ya back?"

"My Godmother," Lucy said with an amused smile. "She's a big full on and protective but she's the best."

Natsu nodded as he sipped his coffee. It looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped. Lucy giggled.

"What is it?" She asked. Natsu smirked before shrugging.

"My parents passed away too," Lucy's brows furrowed but he waved her off. "It's okay. I never knew them – My Dad adopted me when I was really young, so he was the only parent I've ever known. I'm really lucky to him."

Lucy nodded and smiled at the story. He was being quite vague, but they were still very new friends. Hopefully he'd reveal more about himself in the future. Lucy shook away the thought. Kay, she was really getting ahead of herself now.

"Your Dad and you sound pretty close," she said as they took a seat on her couch. He sat close enough that she could feel the heat from his body. It was enough to set her cheeks aflame.

"Yah, we are," he agreed before frowning. "Hey, you okay? You seem kinda flushed."

"Oh, I'm okay," she waved off his concerns but stopped short when she felt a finger graze her cheek. Her eyes flew up to his face to find him watching her just as intently. His right hand had reached up to softly run his finger over her blazing cheeks, but he froze the moment her eyes met his.

It was like she had forgotten how to breath. She could almost swear she saw the breath hitch in his throat before he looked down and dropped his hand.

"Good," he muttered. He turned a little and shook his head as he sipped at his drink again. Lucy had to think back to what she said to make sense of his statement. "Anyway – Yeah, my Dad and I are pretty tight."

Lucy smiled again and relaxed back into her seat. "Makes sense if he condones you fighting people you meet for the first time."

That broke any tension left between them. Natsu laughed

"Hey, it was Ice Freak, so it doesn't count." He joked and Lucy laughed.

"Noted."

It was quiet for a moment before Natsu spoke up again.

"There was another reason I wanted to talk to you," he said, and Lucy felt her stomach jump in anticipation. "I was gonna to ask you in class but – "

"People walked in." she finished for him. Everything Metal, Cana and Levy had told her flew from her mind the moment those green eyes rested on her.

"Yeah," he nodded, Lucy thought she could see a slight blush on his own cheeks but surly she was imagining it. "I actually wanted to ask ya if you'd like to go out with me sometime."

The breath caught in Lucy's throat but Natsu continued.

"I know we're both pretty busy with college right now," he reached a hand up to run his hand through his hair, distracting Lucy for a moment. "So maybe – Next weekend? Once our assignments are out the way – If ya want to."

He trailed off, his eyes still trained on her face as she finally released a long breath and smiled, her face on fire at this point.

"I – Yes. Yeah, I'd really like that."

The smirk that spread across his face would have made her weak at the knees if she was standing. He turned his eyes back down to his coffee before nodding to himself.

"Okay," Lucy found herself unable to stop smiling at his expression. "That's – Yeah, we'll do that."

Lucy laughed lightly and brought her own coffee back to her lips, unable to stop the butterflies filling her stomach that were making it hard to breath.

They chatted idly for another half an hour or so before he realised his Dad was expecting him. Lucy took his mug from him and took it into the kitchen while he shrugged his jacket back on.

"Thanks for the coffee," he said as she walked him to the door. He hesitated and circled back to face her before bothering to pull it open, causing her to stop flush with his chest.

"Um – " He spoke lowly as he looked down on her face. "Do you think I could have ya number? Then we can organise the date."

Lucy's heart fluttered at the sound of his deep, quiet voice but also at the fact he straight up called it a 'date'. She nodded wordlessly and grabbed her phone from the side. She messed with it a moment before offering it to him.

"Just put your number in there," she said in an equally quiet voice. She saw him shiver. "I'll text you after."

Natsu nodded, tapping in his number before handing her the phone back with a grin. "There."

"Thanks." She smiled as he turned and opened her door.

"I'll see you at college," he said as he stepped out and faced her again. He lingered in the doorway for a moment before leaning forward and pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek.

"Later Luce," he muttered as he pulled away. He smirked at her expression before turning on his heels and making his way from her dorm, his hands buried in his pockets.

Lucy could barely move. When she finally managed to close her door and make her way into her dorm in small, jerky motions she found herself jumping with excitement.

"Oh my god!" she squealed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

She pressed a hand to her throat, trying to suppress the hammering in her chest before making her way back into her room and turning her PC back on, wasting no time in messaging Metal again.

ThatChillGuy: I'M SO SORRY BUT I NEED YOU TO BE A GIRL AGAIN.

ThatMetalGuy: You are fucking kidding me.

ThatChillGuy: I won't argue about you being squad leader for a whole month.

ThatMetalGuy: You better fucking not. Call.

Lucy found herself squealing again, trying to ignore the gnawing dread in her stomach at this mess she had found herself in. She was certainly digging herself into a hole.

But right then, she found it very hard to care.


	7. Just When I Was Starting To Fucking Relax

So, it turns out that Lucy should have been a bit more concerned when Natsu asked her out.

Don't get her wrong, she was absolutely thrilled. So thrilled that she annoyed Metal all night about it. But it wasn't long till he annoyingly tried to talk some sense into her.

"Chill, c'mon," he said for the tenth time. "You're giving me a fucking headache. And you're being confusing as fuck."

"What do you mean?" she asked, ignoring the headache comment.

"I thought this was all a cause for concern," he reminded her in a rumbling voice. "You said so yourself that the closer you get to him in real life the weirder it's going to be in game. And the weirder it'll be when he inevitably finds out."

"You don't know that – "

"When he inevitably finds out," Metal reiterated through grit teeth. Lucy hung her head back.

"I know, I know," she finally caved. "I know I'm being an idiot but what the hell am I meant to do?"

"Tell him the truth."

Lucy bit her lip and went quiet. He was right. Of course, he was. The only thing she was doing was overcomplicating things for herself in the future and watering her lie.

"…Fine," she said quietly. Metal 'Hmm?'ed in her headphones. "I'll tell him."

"When?"

Lucy went quiet again and Metal growled.

"The longer you leave it the harder it'll be," he reminded her. Lucy sighed and nodded to herself.

"I'll tell him at the end of this week," she shrugged, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach at the thought. "He only asked me today so that way I'm giving him an out before we get in too deep."

"Smart," Metal commented. "But this isn't about giving him an out. Maybe he won't care."

"Hah," Lucy scoffed and hung her head back to stare at her ceiling. "Imagine."

"Whatever, you all good now? I needa hit the hay."

"Kay, thanks for tonight. You know, you've turned into one of my closest friends, right?"

"Just threw up a bit in my mouth," and he hung up.

Lucy laughed lightly to herself, closing the chatroom tab and turning off her computer. She chuckled evilly as she tied up her hair in a bun atop her head.

"Sucker," she giggled. "Like I'm gonna tell anyone."

Yeah. Hold onto that thought.

"Okay, so we're doing this again."

"Yep."

"So, Natsu came by your house and asked you out." Levy stated and Lucy nodded.

"Yes."

"And then you went on call with Metal, who convinced you to tell Natsu the truth before you make an even bigger mess of this situation." Cana continued.

"Uh-huh."

"But you lied because you're actually planning on just living out this lie as long as you can till you genuinely have no other choice but to tell the truth." Levy rounded up.

"That's right."

"Lucy," Cana groaned as she threw her head back. Lucy frowned and turned her eyes back to the path as they walked to class. "You're being so hopeless. You know he's right."

"Not necessarily," Lucy shrugged and walked ahead of them. "You said so yourself - If I just act the same way, as Chill and Lucy, Natsu won't suspect a thing."

"I suggested that to give you more time," Cana hissed as Levy shot her a disapproving glare. "I didn't mean it was a permanent fix!"

"Well, it could be!" Lucy snapped as they reached their college. She stopped and spun around to face her friends. "If I tell Natsu, then I'll have to tell Ice – No, Gray, who is in some of my classes too, would you believe! It's double the humiliation."

"Uh – Lucy," Levy tried to cut in, but Lucy wasn't finished.

"And you're forgetting the little matter of Natsu actually liking me. Me. Lucy. Not some girl who pretends to be a guy and plays games with him on the internet."

"Lucy – "

"And another thing! You're acting like Metal's word is law! I'll have you know he makes a point to try and stress me out every time we play games by making girl jokes which is really immature. He doesn't know what he's talking about. I, however, do know what I'm talking about."

"Oh, do you now?"

"Yes, I – Oh."

Lucy's shoulders tensed so much she nearly got cramp. Her eyes froze on Cana and Levy who were looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.

"So," Levy managed to croak before clearing her throat. "You say your friend's name is Metal?"

Lucy winced. "Yes."

"Huh," Cana pursed her lips and nodded, her gaze never leaving the spot over Lucy's shoulder. "And you said that he assured you you'd know him when you saw him."

"Yeah,"

"Just by the name Metal." Levy added. Lucy closed her eyes and sighed before turning around slowly.

She looked the man before her up and down before grimacing and nodding slowly.

"Okay. I see what you meant now."

She should have known that, with her luck, he was going to be just as hot as Natsu and Gray. Metal was so tall. At least six three. Lucy fell a step back as her eyes fell on the countless piercings that were dotted stylishly around his face and on his ears. Lucy could even see some poking out from behind his sleeves. She couldn't imagine how many he must have had.

He had an impressive mass of jet-black hair, that was messily pulled back into a lazy ponytail that fell down his back. His eyes were a shocking crimson red, the colour of wine. They were looking down at her in amusement.

"So…" He grumbled as he looked her up and down. Lucy sighed and closed her eyes in annoyance. "A blondie?"

"Shut up," she couldn't help but grin. "I suspect you heard me bad mouthing you."

"Obviously," he adjusted his bag on his shoulder but grinned at her. "I knew you were never going to do it. You're such a fucking coward."

Lucy just rolled her eyes and punched him in the chest. She winced before cradling her hand. "Ow."

"Woulda warned you." He nodded towards her friends. "You her friends?"

"Yes," Levy answered for her and Cana, her eyes narrowed. Metal tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the small blunette.

"Yah, I gotta bone to pick with you."

"Excuse me?"

"Blondie here keeps pretending I'm one of you when she needs to cry or be annoying," he explained dryly, ignoring Lucy's spluttering.

"Ah, I heard," Levy started to grin. "Apparently you make a lovely girl friend."

"Oh, God," Metal groaned.

"Okay, enough." Lucy interrupted, throwing a glare at Metal. "So, real name?"

"Eh?"

"I can't keep calling you Metal."

"Oh," he rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "Gajeel."

"Weird," Lucy tilted her head ignored his cursing. "I assume I don't have to tell you mine's Lucy since you're just going to call me Blondie."

"Yup."

"So predictable." She sighed. Gajeel laughed.

"Anyway," he turned her head and glared at her. "You're really not gonna tell Dragon?"

"No."

"Lucy."

Him saying her name sent a slight shockwave through her, but she ignored it. "I need more time."

"Right," Levy rolled her eyes and Lucy glared back at her before frowning.

"Where's Cana?"

"You didn't realise? Everyone has made their way to class. I have another twenty minutes but you guys – "

"This is not over!" Lucy spluttered and she ran towards the doors along with Gajeel.

"Whatever."

It was hard to avoid Natsu all day but not impossible. He fought with Gray every chance he got so it was easy to slip away unnoticed between classes.

"Oh, hey blondie,"

"Ughhhh," Lucy hung her head back as she turned to face a smirking Gajeel. They were the only ones left in the hallway as everyone else filtered off to their next class. Lucky (or unlucky) for Lucy, she had a free period. "Don't you have class?"

"Cancelled." He shrugged and Lucy frowned.

"That sucks." She folded her arms over her chest. "When's your next one."

"Three. Then I leave at five."

Lucy huffed. "Same."

Gajeel laughed and began to say something else when he was cut off by the sound of a brawl.

"I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, FLAME FREAK, GET BACK HERE!"

"NO."

"RIGHT NOW."

"NO!"

Natsu and Gray tumbled through the halls, seemingly fighting over something when they nearly fell into Gajeel, who pushed them back roughly.

"Back the fuck up, you losers," he said but his voice held humour. Gray and Natsu pushed away from each other the round on Gajeel.

"How's about you mind your own business?" Gray squared up towards him and Natsu followed suit.

"Yeah! You big Metal – " Natsu jumped in and Gray narrowed his eyes.

"Wait – "

"Freak – What?"

Gray turned his head at the taller male, but Natsu just watched on cluelessly. Lucy shook her head at him with a smile from her position at the side. He was literally the one who called him Metal Freak, how had he not put it together? Gray turned his head before smiling slowly and pointing at Gajeel.

"…Metal?"

"Mhmm," Gajeel hummed with a smirk, his arms crossed over his massive chest. Gray laughed gruffly and held out a hand.

"Man, this is insane," he said as Gajeel grabbed his hand and slapped his back with a laugh.

"You got that right," Gajeel agreed as Natsu looked between the two in confusion.

"The fuck's happening right now?" Natsu finally asked. Gray cast him an incredulous look.

"Fire breath, you can't not know who this guy is." Natsu shrugged.

"He's a big, metal – Oh. Oh."

"Sup, Flame Brain."

"Metal Freak!" Natsu shouted cheerfully. They all laughed again, and Lucy had to fight a feeling of jealousy. She couldn't feel sorry for herself because they were all meeting. She made her bed and now she's lying in it.

"Oh, Lucy," Natsu finally seemed to notice her presence. His eyes solely focused on her as he walked around his friends to greet her properly. "I didn't see ya there."

"It's okay," she waved him off, but had a sudden feeling of unease. "You were busy. Anyway, I gotta run – "

"Where ya goin', Blondie?"

Lucy froze on her heels as she tried to turn away. She winced before turning back to glare at Gajeel over her shoulder.

"Class," she answered though grit teeth. Gajeel hummed and she had to stop herself from throwing something at him.

"You just said you have a free period," He frowned in confusion, but Lucy wasn't dumb enough not to see the evil gleam in his eyes.

"I meant the library." She snapped. Her eyes grew wide when she noted Natsu's confusion.

"You two know each other?" he asked from beside Gray, who was just watching them all through narrow eyes.

"Oh, yeah, known Blondie for quite a few months now," Gajeel said casually before she could get a word in. Lucy nearly nodded to herself mockingly. Yeah, she asked for this.

"That so?" Gray murmured, Lucy could swear she could detect some suspicion in his gaze but Natsu spoke again before she could ponder it.

"That's sweet," he grinned. "These are the guy's I've gamed with for years. We've never met in person before, so this is – "

"A lot." Gajeel finished for him. He cast Lucy another mocking smile. "Do you game, Blondie?"

It was physically painful to keep a smile on her face and not hit him. She nodded slowly. "Yep."

"You should see her set up," Natsu was eyeing her almost proudly. Lucy couldn't help but feel a little flutter in her chest at his gaze. "It's insane."

"Anyways," Lucy cut in, trying her hardest not to glare at Gajeel. "I gotta run the library. Gajeel, didn't you have to go there too?"

"Wait, hold up – Your name is Gajeel?" Natsu cut in and chuckled. "Weird."

"Oi, it's no stranger than Natsu!" Gajeel snapped.

"Like hell is my name – "

"How did you know his name was Natsu?"

Everyone went quiet at the sound of Gray's calm voice. Lucy looked over to find him stood almost lazily, his hands in his pockets but her blue orbs were narrow and focused on Gajeel, who seemed at a loss for words.

"I – I obviously heard one of you guys say it."

"No one said it," Gray frowned. "I only refer to this idiot with flame related insults, like you. And I didn't hear Lucy say it either."

"I did," Lucy cut in, trying to control her expression when their eyes fell to her. "When you guys were fighting I said 'Is that Natsu?' to myself. Gajeel must have overheard me."

"Yeah," Gajeel agreed gruffly.

Gray's eyes flickered between the two of them before his face curled up in a slow, amused smile. He shrugged. "Okay."

"Anyway," Lucy breathed for the last time. "I gotta run. Gajeel?"

"Coming – I'll speak to you guys tonight?"

"Sure – Hey, now we just have to meet Chill." Natsu joked. Lucy couldn't even force herself to laugh as she turned and started to walk as Gajeel said his goodbyes.

"Hah, yeah. Anyways, later."

"Bye."

As they rounded the corner, Lucy whipped around and punched Gajeel in the arm.

"'Ey!"

"You stupid, metal idiot!" She whispered furiously as she rounded on him. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking it was the perfect opportunity to mess with you." He frowned and rubbed his arm. "That stung a little."

"Good. Did you see Gray's face? He knows that something is wrong."

"No, he doesn't," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "You don't know these guys like I do. These things just go over their heads."

"Well, it didn't go over his!" She hissed. "Natsu I'm not too worried about but Gray knew that something was up. Why did you call Natsu Natsu? Are you stupid?"

"Alright, just chill out, Chill," He sneered mockingly, and Lucy recoiled.

"Is that meant to be funny?"

Gajeel scoffed.

"It was fucking hysterical."

"It really wasn't."

"I thought it was funny."

That was it. Obviously, the universe hated Lucy. Her and Gajeel turned slowly to find Gray leant on the opposite wall of the hallway, his eyes alight with humour. Natsu was nowhere to be seen. Lucy just slumped against the wall at Gajeel's side, utterly defeated.

"But I am a little confused," he frowned, and his eyes found Lucy's directly. "You're Chill?"

"…Yes." She sighed. Gray looked to the ground and clicked his tongue.

"I don't understand," he began but Gajeel cut in.

"Guy's gave her hell."

"Ah."

Gray nodded in understanding, all confusion suddenly absent from his expression and he nodded.

"Wait, so you're just cool with it?" She asked hesitantly. Gray looked at her at a loss before turning his gaze to Gajeel for help.

"She had this weird theory that we would treat her like shit if we found out she was a girl," Gajeel rolled his eyes and Gray rose his eyebrows. "I thought it was weird too."

"It isn't weird!" Lucy whined. "I lied to you guys for months – "

"Blondie, girl's pretending to be guys so they can game is common as fuck," Gajeel told her, her crimson eyes blazing. "It sucks, but it's not weird. Some guys are just dicks."

"That's true," Gray agreed, Lucy's eyes fell to him. "But the moment you realised that we were not dicks you should have said something."

"I was going to," Lucy muttered. "Things just got… Really complicated."

"Yeah, how?"

Lucy went quiet and Gajeel chuckled.

"You might wanna sit down for this one, man."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"Yeah, I know!"

Lucy let her head fall onto the table. The three of them walked to a nearby coffee place to tell Gray about her weird relationship with Natsu. She should have known it was going to take forever.

"I'm late for my next class…" she tried to mention, but the boys just talked over her.

"So Natsu genuinely likes Lucy," Gray recapped. "He even asked her out – And he has no idea that she's Chill."

"Yeah," Gajeel laughed.

"But Lucy has known this whole time and actually likes him back?"

"Told ya it'd take a while."

"It's fine. I'll skip class, I'll just say I was sick." Lucy told them but it fell on deaf ears.

"Shit," Gray laughed, his eyes softened as they fell on Lucy. "So, you really like the Flame brain?"

Lucy stiffened at the sudden seriousness in his voice. She nodded shyly. Gray hummed and stretched his arms over his head.

"Then, what you need to do is pretty clear then." He commented.

"It is?" She asked and leant forwards.

"Yep," he relaxed his arms and leant over the table. "You need to tell him."

Lucy deflated.

"Not you too…" Lucy groaned and leant back into her seat. "I'll tell him when I'm ready."

"Yeah right," Gajeel muttered and Lucy thumped him. "Ow."

"I will!" She snapped. Gray's eyes suddenly looked conflicted as he leant back into his own seat.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal," He said suddenly and Lucy and Gajeel turned to see his expression suddenly serious. "You have until tomorrow night to tell Natsu the truth,"

Lucy titled her head, anxiety suddenly pooling in her stomach. "Or?

"Or I'll tell him myself."

"You'll what?" Lucy's chair slid back with a screech as she stood abruptly. Gray remained quiet as Gajeel slowly pulled her back down to sit.

"I'm not doing this to be a dick," Gray explained quickly. "I think you're really nice and I know we could be friends. But Natsu really likes you, and as much as I hate that guy, I don't want him getting hurt."

The anger slowly left Lucy's veins as she took in Gray's expression. He and Natsu were so obviously best friends. As much as she hated it, it made sense that Gray was looking out for him.

"I just don't know how to tell him," she confessed hopelessly. "It could go so many ways. He might be fine and laugh about it or he might – "

"Not like you anymore?" Gray scoffed. "Trust me – Don't worry. Just tell him the truth."

Lucy cast her eyes down and frowned despairingly. He was right. This was literally the advice she had been given since day one by several different people. It was obviously the right thing to do. She took a deep breath before looking up and squaring her shoulders.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," she released a shaky breath. "I tell him tomorrow."


	8. It Was LITERALLY Just Getting Good

It was unsurprising that Lucy didn't get any sleep that night. All she wanted to do was go on game and get lost in it and forget all her worries, but she didn't. If everyone was online, they'd ask her to join, and she knew the sound of Natsu's voice would only stress her out more.

Lucy lay awake long after she got into bed, her eyes wide and tired as she stared at the ceiling. How is it that she's this scared? Natsu hasn't given her any reason to think he'd react badly – if anything he's given her every reason to believe he'd be fine with it.

If she's honest with herself, she knew it was because she liked him so much. She'd never liked anyone so much or so quickly as she did him. Just thinking about him made heat flood to her cheeks. She pulled her covers up to press over her suddenly flushed face and squeezed her eyes shut. If she wasn't so attracted to him, she wouldn't be freaking out so much.

"Great, so all I have to do is like him less." Lucy whispered to herself and scoffed. That wasn't going to happen any time soon. She reached over to her nightstand and tapped her phone to check the time. She winced at the sudden array of light and lowered the brightness down. Eventually, her eyes adjusted enough to check the time.

"Ah, hell," she muttered as she noted the early hour. "I need to sleep."

She placed her phone back, tucked her sheets back around her and closed her eyes. It sucked, but she knew she had to tell him tomorrow. If Gray told him before her it would be awful, for her and Natsu.

She willed her thoughts to quiet and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

Lucy woke up before her alarm, though her phone was blaring. She frowned and answered it without checking who it was to make it shut up.

"Hello?" She asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes.

"Address?"

"'Scuse me?" She sat up and heard Gajeel sigh.

"I'm leaving now but I'm gonna get some coffee. Thought I might as well come and meet you so we can walk together."

"That so?" she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

"Yeah, figured you need so whine some more."

"Rude," she tried to laugh but it sounded more like crying. Gajeel groaned.

"Ew, you sound so emotional."

"Shut up, at lease I can emote. We're not all made of stone."

"Good one. Address?"

"I'll text you. Get me a coffee."

"Fuck you." And he hung up. Lucy laughed lightly before texting him her address and how she likes her coffee.

About twenty minutes later she heard a knock at her door. She frowned when she heard laughter and some yelling as she got closer and pulled her door open.

"What the hell is – "

"Finally, will you tell the shrimp that is she'd under five foot then she's technically a dwarf?"

Lucy turned her head and looked over Gajeel's shoulder at Levy's small but furious form.

"Um…"

"That isn't even a little bit true, you stupid oaf!" Levy snapped back but Gajeel just shrugged and snickered.

"Okay," Lucy cut in. "Levy, what are you even doing here? Is everything okay?"

Levy sighed and nodded.

"I leant some of my notes to Jet and he lives in this building. I had to get my books back before classes."

"Fair enough. And neither of you could help flirting loudly at 8 in the morning." Lucy was delighted to find them both spluttering in denial.

"I would never – "

"He is not my type – "

Lucy just nodded sarcastically and opened her door wider before cutting them off. "Sure. Gajeel, get in here. Levy, meet you at lunch?"

Gajeel made his way into her room as Levy slowly found her words.

"I – Yes, sure."

"Good. Don't worry – I'll be sure to bring Gajeel."

"I do not – " Levy began to screech, Lucy laughed and cut her off my closing her door. She turned to find Gajeel looking like a kicked puppy.

"That was not cool."

"Oh, shut up, you guys are so into each other." Lucy laughed as she made her way into her room to put her textbooks into her bag. Gajeel lingered in the living area.

"That's so fucking untrue," she managed to hear him grumble. She rolled her eyes to herself as she pulled her bag over her shoulder and decided to drop the subject.

"Whatever. You get my coffee?"

"Yes, you fucking ingrate. It's on the table."

Lucy ignored the dig and grabbed her coffee and turned to the door.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"So," Gajeel began as they exited her building. "You're holding up pretty well."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked. Gajeel released a puff of air.

"Well, you usually have a mental breakdown every time we even mention the fact you need to tell the Fire Freak the truth. And now you've been given an ultimatum, and have no choice but to tell him today, and you're just… chill."

As Gajeel spoke, Lucy felt that dreaded gnawing in her stomach build once more but did her best not to show it on her face. "I guess. I'm just sick of hiding and being… scared. I just need to get it over with and if Natsu doesn't like it – "

She wanted to say: 'I don't care.' But the words got caught in her throat. Gajeel stayed silent but nodded.

"It doesn't matter," she shook her head and kept her eyes forward. "Natsu is gonna find out today whether I like it or not. I have to tell him and even if I can't – "

"Won't."

"Can't – Gray would tell him anyway. Either way, him finding out today is inevitable."

"That's true," Gajeel agreed, his eyes steely ahead as hers were. "You get that it's for the best though, right? We're not trying to force you to do something you don't want to. It just – "

"I know, I know," Lucy sighed, her steps lagging until she halted to a stop. Gajeel walked a few steps ahead before turning slightly so he could watch her. "I get it's for my own good. If I didn't tell him the situation would just get messier and messier."

"Exactly," Gajeel nodded and turned fully to face her, his hands still in his pockets but his eyes on her. "It's would get to the point where it would be irreparable. And we don't want that, for you or the Fire Idiot."

"Oh," A small smile played on Lucy's lips as she took a step forward. "So, what you're saying is… You're looking out for me."

Gajeel's eyes narrowed warily. "…No."

Lucy laughed. "You get that we're best friend's now, right?"

"No."

"Aw, I always wanted a big, scary, metal best friend!"

"Fucking hell – " He sneered as he began walking again, Lucy giggled as she jogged to catch up and walk beside him. "That was a lot. Anyways, isn't the Shrimp your best friend? Or the other one?"

"No, because Levy and Cana are best friends. We're close, sure, but they're closer. So that leaves…"

"Right, I'm out." Gajeel sped up so much that Lucy near enough had to sprint before she could walk beside him again, laughing all the while.

"Aww, wait, wait, wait…" Lucy laughed as she grabbed his arm. Gajeel growled and shook her off.

"Is stress making you insane? Back up," he whined, and Lucy laughed harder.

"Alright, alright," she walked beside him, trying not to chuckle when he grumbled something about 'stupid bunny girls' under his breath.

"So, if it's not too soon to ask," Gajeel began and Lucy turned to him. "How're gonna break it to the Flame Freak?"

"I have absolutely no idea," she admitted, a knot forming in her stomach when they reached the road that lead up to their college. "I barely got any sleep last night just thinking about it."

"Maybe you should just tell him straight up," Gajeel suggested with a shrug. "From what I've seen, the Fire Freak doesn't really respond to people who beat around the bush. His small brain will explode trying to figure out what they're try'na say."

"Alright," Lucy hummed, genuinely receiving the information. "So, no mind games. What else?"

"Um, that's all I've got. Maybe do something thinkin' yourself for a change."

"Alright!" she snapped, her stomach growing more uneasy as they made their way into the college grounds.

"Okay." Gajeel turned to face her and arched a studded brow. "Yer ready?"

Lucy took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Yes."

"Good. Now leave me alone."

Lucy shot him a nasty look but left to make her way to homeroom, leaving him behind.

"You got this Lucy…" She muttered to herself before she pushed open the doors to homeroom.

As Lucy entered the classroom, the first thing she noted was that Natsu wasn't there. She took another shaky breath as she made her way to her seat and pulled her books from her bag. It was only a few minutes later that Natsu finally made his way into the room. His smiled apologetically at the teacher and said sorry for being late before making his way to his seat.

It's just ridiculous that Lucy couldn't take her eyes off him, even when he was doing something as simple as sitting at his desk and pulling his books out. Lucy felt her mouth slowly fall open as he leant back and lazily reached a hand up to push his hair back as he flicked through the book to find the right page. His eyes lifted suddenly to meet hers. Time felt like it had stopped when he watched her for a moment. Eventually, Lucy watched as his lips curled into a slow smirk.

"Oh my God…" Lucy muttered. Her face near enough burst into a flames when she realised that she had whispered it aloud. She turned away before she could take in his expression and glared at the blurry words on her textbook. That did not just happen. It did not.

Lucy could swear she saw Natsu chuckling in the corner of her eye, but she could be wrong. Maybe he didn't even notice, Gajeel said he could be a little dense sometimes. She prayed that this was one of those times.

The teacher had just begun to tell them some announcements when Lucy felt her phone ding in her pocket. She said sorry to the teacher and decided to leave it, hoping it wouldn't go off again.

But - of course - it did. She apologised quietly and retrieved her phone from her pocket in order to put it on silent mode. She noted that it was the chat between her, Gajeel, Gray and Natsu that had gone off. She couldn't see what had been said, but she could see that the last message was from Dragon. Just before she could put it on mute, it dinged again with a text message from Natsu.

Butterflies immediately erupted in her stomach as she quickly read the text. It read:

Natsu(9:23 AM)

Did u rlly just say 'oh my god' for some reason? Cause that was cute af.

Lucy felt her cheeks suddenly heat up all over again as she quickly threw a glance in Natsu's direction.

Oddly, he wasn't chuckling in amusement as she thought he would be. His eyes were already trained on her, as she assumed, they would be. But they weren't amused. They were wide with shock.

It was only then did she connect the dots.

Her phone had just gone off twice with the group chat and she and Natsu were in. One of them messages were from Natsu.

And immediately after she just very obviously checked those messages, one of which he had received too, she had received a text from him.

He knew. Natsu fucking knew.

She held his gaze for a few seconds longer before all hell broke loose.


	9. Well, The Cats Out The Fucking Bag Now

It was safe to say that Natsu had always been a little suspicious.

He wasn't as dense as some of his friends may think he was. He noticed that some girls had a certain reaction to him, it's just he usually didn't really acknowledge it since he wasn't interested. And it had always been that way.

That was until he noticed a pretty blonde girl looking at him in his new homeroom.

Natsu was being honest when he insisted, he really didn't know what was so different about her. She certainly acted like other girls he had encountered, blushing a lot and getting flustered easily. But at the same time, she couldn't be more different. He felt a weird sense of pride whenever he caused her to blush, and he found that her blushing was quickly becoming one of his his favourite expressions on her.

When he ran into her the first time at the coffee place, he was surprised at her response to him. Natsu had seen her around college enough to know that she certainly wasn't a shy person. She was strong and confident, and certainly didn't shy away from telling people if they were being a dick. But when she ran into him, it was like he had encountered a startled bunny.

Sure, she seemed more comfortable with him by the time they walked to college, and he thought: Shit, progress. But from then on, she started acting like an even bigger weirdo.

Natsu would be lying if he said he didn't kinda like it. She wasn't like any girl he had ever met in his life, and it was just so damn amusing. He physically couldn't get bored with her around and – Yeah. He really liked it.

It was when he walked her home that he noticed she upgraded her weirdo instincts. The startled bunny was back, and as funny it was to watch it did confuse him a little bit. She didn't seem nervous around anyone else, so why him?

Regardless, he found himself craving her presence more the more he spent time with her. He could barely believe it himself when he let her borrow his scarf. That was certainly something he had never done before – Not ever. And then to forget it! That made him realise just how much she distracted him, that he would literally walk away from her while his prized scarf was wrapped snugly around her neck.

Yeah, when he realised that he had left his scarf with her he was a little stressed and wanted it back. But if he was being honest to himself, he was a little thrilled that he had an excuse to see her again. That got even better when he saw that she had a full-blown gaming set up in her home. She was a hardcore gamer too? Doesn't get better than that.

Natsu knew by then that he wanted to see if this could go anywhere. He was so annoyed that he didn't get to ask her out the first time that he needed an excuse to go to her house to ask her properly. He couldn't believe how elated he felt when she actually said yes, with that soft but hesitant smile.

He nearly forgot that she was a full-blown weirdo till he encountered her with the Metal Freak. Why would Lucy be friends with him? And why were they being so weird about it? His suspicions were only amplified when he noticed Gray's confusion and doubts too.

When the Metal Freak and she wandered off Natsu may have let it go if Gray hadn't sketchily said he suddenly wanted to stop fighting because he had somewhere else to be. Natsu wasn't too surprised when he confirmed by following him that Gray was going to find where Gajeel and Lucy got off too.

But just because Gray was a sketchy creep didn't mean that Natsu was too. Natsu left to go to class, but not before hearing a certain word – or more specifically – name.

Chill.

Okay. Okay. So, what does this mean? Does Lucy know Chill? Does he live in this city too? Or even more weird – Did he go to this college too?

Then Natsu really jumped down the rabbit hole.

Lucy obviously liked him – He was confident enough in himself to notice that. But he also noticed she treated him differently in a way that she seemed nervous – almost like she was holding something back.

Then he thought about the gaming set up.

She was friends with Gajeel.

Gray seemed to know something about that too.

They were talking about Chill.

It was at this point that Natsu just genuinely thought Lucy's weirdness was contagious. That was just way too far-fetched.

But it still played on his mind.

The next day, he noticed that Lucy had walked to college with Gajeel. He did his best not to eavesdrop, but it was kinda fucking hard when the Metal Freak said something about a 'Flame Brain' every five minutes. He eventually blocked the whole thing from his mind before making his way to the bathroom before homeroom. Wherever his brain was taking him, it was definitely wrong.

He felt his chest tighten when he looked up from his desk to see Lucy's eyes on him. She looked very distracted and Natsu just had to grin. He could barely believe it when he saw her full lips mouth three words he only knew too well before she quickly turned away.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, his whipped it out to see it was the group chat. But what caught his eye – and ear – more was that Lucy's phone chimed in sync. He looked up and frowned. His suspicions that it was her were confirmed when she apologised to the teacher. Hesitantly, he sent a quick message to the chat himself.

Now, his chest really tightened when he saw her pull out her phone as it chimed again, her face flushed with embarrassment. To seriously confirm what he now knew, he sent a quick text to her own phone number while her eyes were on the screen.

He heard the phone ding again and watched her face heat up more. When her big brown eyes lifted to meet his, he couldn't compose his expression even if he tried.

It was Lucy.

Lucy was Chill.

And fuck, she knew he had figured it out. Her eyes grew wider than he had ever seen them before. Oh, my fucking God, so it was true. She really was Chill.

"Oh…" He said under his breath. "Oh, shit. Oh, okay – Wow – "

"Mr Dragneel, is everything okay?" He could hear the teacher ask faintly. Lucy shot up from her desk when Natsu grew louder and started to stand himself.

"You! You're – And Metal and – This is – Wow - "

"Sir, can I talk to Natsu outside for a moment?"

She didn't wait for a reply as she quickly dragged the spluttering Natsu into the hallway and whipped around.

"I can't believe this – " He managed to splutter as they came to a stop.

"I know, I know!" Lucy whined and paced in front of him. Natsu slumped on a bench up against the wall in the empty hallway, still shell-shocked as he watched Lucy's pacing form.

"So – So you're…?"

Lucy stopped pacing and stopped to a standstill in front of him. "Yes."

Natsu nearly chocked on his breath. "You're Chill?"

"…Yes."

"How is this possible?"

"I don't know!" Lucy whined and resumed her pacing as Natsu was quickly connecting some dots in his head.

"Wait, wait, wait – So you knew who I was?"

He watched as she lagged a little.

"Yes."

"For how long?"

He had to fight a wince at the sudden guilt on her face. "After when we first spoke at the coffee place."

"…Oh."

"Yeah. I recognised your voice."

Alarm bells rang in his head. "So, that's why you never came on call? Because you didn't want us to know that you were a girl?"

"Yeah. I used to go on call in game, but I'd always get trouble from creeps. So, then I just stopped going on call, but my name seemed to give me away. So…"

"So, you made out that you were a guy." Natsu sighed and rubbed his temples. "That's so shitty but I get it. Guys can be such dicks."

Lucy laughed breathlessly and made her way forward to slump onto the bench beside him. He heard her sigh and held his breath as he waited for her to speak again.

"Even before I met you, I wanted to tell you guys that I was a girl," she whispered. "You were all so much fun, and we had been playing together long enough for me to be sure you weren't jerks. I wanted to be able to go on call and be properly a part of the team."

"So why didn't you?" He whispered back. Lucy didn't answer for a moment.

"By the time I plucked up the courage to do it, I met you."

Natsu frowned. Lucy continued before he could question her.

"I met you and… When I realised who you were, I just freaked out. I couldn't believe we went to the same college. I had heard that Ice – I mean – Gray and you went to the same college, so I knew he was around too. It was just so uncanny. And then – " Lucy trailed off. Natsu turned his head to find that her face was flushed. He turned his head in confusion.

"And then?" He prompted. Lucy made a small, embarrassed sound that made him have to fight a smile.

"And then I realised I had a crush on you," she whispered and Natsu genuinely felt like his chest was going to burst. It was hard to stay composed as she continued. "You were so… You know. I just couldn't believe you were actually Dragon, that Dragon was – " She cut herself off again, her face redder than Natsu had ever seen it.

"I knew I had to tell you, but I was so scared that it'd be too much. I didn't want to lose all the fun we had when we gamed but I also… I really wanted to see if this could go somewhere." She gestured between them. Natsu smiled and nodded for her to continue.

"Gajeel figured me out eventually. He could tell that I was hiding something as Chill and I kinda broke down and told him everything. He's actually became one of the most stable friends in my life – He's told me from day one to just tell you the truth."

"And the Ice Queen found out yesterday?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. He noticed something was weird between Gajeel and I and then overheard Gajeel call me Chill. He figured it out from there."

"I see…" Natsu nodded and hesitated a moment before asking: "When were you gonna tell me? Were you gonna tell me?"

"I was," Lucy nodded furiously and faced him fully. "I was actually going to tell you today. And if I ended up chickening out, Gray was going to tell you."

"Ice Freak?"

"Yeah, he was actually the one who told me I had let this go on for way too long," Lucy sighed. "He told me that I had to tell you today or he would."

"Why'd he do that?"

Lucy smiled in amusement. "Well, I got the vibe that he was looking out for his closest friend."

"Ugh, ew, you weirdo! That's just gross," Natsu whined and pushed her away lightly as she laughed.

"It was actually kind of sweet." Lucy admitted with a smile. Natsu just shook his head but couldn't help but grin.

"Sure," Natsu rolled his eyes before turning to look at her. She was staring at the floor and looked tense as fuck. Natsu waited a moment before collecting the last of his thoughts and releasing a sigh.

"You wanna start over?"

Lucy looked up at him with wide eyes. Natsu had to fight a smirk at her expression. She was just too cute for her own good.

"Seriously? I haven't completely scared you off?"

"I actually suspected from day one that you were a bit of a weirdo," He teased her. "I get it. It was a really, really impossible situation. I kinda get why you freaked."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Lucy beamed at him. The smile she gave him was almost blinding, so much so that he chuckled gruffly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Anything else I needa know?"

Lucy laughed.

"I'll have a think and get back to you."


End file.
